A talk from architectural historian and cultural guide Sergey Nikitin on the Volga cities - Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd and Samara, that are all hosting World Cup matches and all have their own distinctive culture.
Nizhny Novogorod
Volgograd
Samara (hammer and sickle factory)
Samara
Samara
Nizhny Novgorod, Volgograd and Samara are three great cities on the River Volga. All have built new stadiums and are preparing to host world cup games. But do you know anything about travelling around Russia, or about the history of these cities? For example that Nizhny Novgorod also has a Kremlin, that it houses some of Russia’s oldest car factories and in Soviet times was called Gorky.
Volgograd was called Stalingrad and was rebuilt after the second world war when it was decimated by months of brutal fighting. The Battle of Stalingrad turned the war around and began Germany’s long retreat west. Samara was home to Stalin’s bunker and the parliament-in-exile during the war. It also has some fine examples of Constructivist architecture including a factory canteen with a ground plan in the shape of a Hammer and Sickle.
Sergey Nikitin will give you an overview of these cities and of ‘Volga culture’. He will give some tips on good places to visit in all three cities and also explain some Russian ways – why people smile, why they don’t, how to feel at home on Russian streets.
Sergey Nikitin, PhD., Urban Historian, founder and President of Velonotte Academy. Author of interdisciplinary studies on Russian culture. Teaches urban studies, architecture and culturology in Russia and Italy. Credited by The Moscow Times as a Top Connoisseur of Moscow.
Please send questions ahead of time, if you wish them to be addressed by Sergey, to office@pushkinhouse.org.uk