Identifier: russia00dobsrich (find matches)
Title: Russia;
Year: 1913 (1910s)
Authors: Dobson, George Grove, Henry M Stewart, Hugh, 1884-1934 Haenen, F. de
Subjects: Soviet Union -- Description and travel
Publisher: London, A. and C. Black
Contributing Library: University of California Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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ross the Russo-Finnish frontier in itsclose vicinity Tver is 300 miles and Moscow400 miles south-eastward ; Vilna, the former capitalof Lithuania, is more than 400 miles south-west-ward ; and Helsingfors, the capital of Finland, isnearly 300 miles to the north-west. If we turndue north, there is nothing in that direction butArchangel, another 600 or 700 miles away, and theNorth Pole. The nearer towns of No\gorod,Pskoft, and Narva, M^hich were once of such greatimportance in Russian politics and trade, have longsince sunk into provincial insignificance. They atone time carried on an extensive commerce withthe western world, and in truth constitutedRussias real window into Europe centuriesbefore Peter the Great opened his window on theNeva. The first two centres of early Russian self-government, Novgorod and PskofF, of famousmemory, were crushed and reduced by Ivan theTerrible for the benefit and aggrandisement ofMoscow. All three towns were subsequentlysuperseded by Peters new capital.
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KASTKR EVE Priest blessing the first food after the Lenten fast outside a church on Easter Eve FIRST IMPRESSIONS 9 St. Petersburg thus stands, comparatively speak-ing, in the midst of a wilderness, surrounded byswamps and forests. Many of these swamps arestill indicated on detailed maps as Nicholas Bog, Round Bog, etc. BalakiriefF, the Court jester ofPeter the Great, described the position of hismasters new capital in the following melancholystrain: Na odnoi storonye more na drougoi gore,na traitye viokh, na chetvertoi okh / (On one sidethe sea, on the other sorrow, on the third moss, onthe fourth a sigh). At the same time, notwith-standing the lowness of the situation and un-healthy condition of the soil, a number of beautifulsummer retreats are to be seen in the environs ofSt. Petersburg, many of them having been estab-lished for members of the Imperial Family. Thereare also villas of the aristocracy and wealthiercitizens, as well as humbler wooden cottages forthe poorer inhabitants

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