The history of mankind leaves visible material reflections of bygone eras and civilizations to posterity. Of course, culture is not limited to material monuments. But few things speak of the past with the same persuasiveness as architectural monuments. Without them, it is impossible to imagine the culture of an ethnic group that is any noticeable in the history of mankind.
Through times and epochs
It is generally accepted that time is merciless to everything. Its action affects even such durable natural materials as bas alt and granite. Among other things, architectural monuments are also destroyed. But any society that considers itself civilized always takes care of their safety. The stone heritage of the past is carefully protected and restored as needed. Each nation has iconic architectural structures that have a certain spiritual dimension. This is something more than a set of stones and slabs connected in a special way.
Architecture and tourism
In addition to unconditional cultural, historical and spiritual significance, architectural monuments also have a very specific economic meaning. In order to join the heritage of history and culture and take pictures against the backdrop of an oldarchitecture, people are willing to travel very long distances and spend significant amounts of money. Tourists prefer to leave their money in those countries where ancient architectural monuments are in abundance.
There are many countries for which tourism is one of the most important industries. There are states where, apart from tourism, there is simply no other economic life. But even such developed European countries as Italy, France or Spain are interested in attracting travelers. The most successful countries in the field of tourism are those that, in addition to a comfortable beach holiday, are able to offer guests an acquaintance with historical and architectural relics, carefully preserved and carefully restored.
World cultural space
Architectural monuments of the world are distributed very unevenly around the planet. It will not be an exaggeration to say that most of them are concentrated in Europe and in its immediate vicinity. Modern Egypt was very lucky, on the territory of which there was an architectural heritage of a unique, irrevocably disappeared civilization. But the greatest number of architectural historical monuments are concentrated in the cities of Italy. Over the centuries, entire generations of craftsmen have worked on their creation. To a certain extent, the same can be said about many large and small European cities. But the United States of America was much less fortunate in this regard: on their territory it is not so easy to findarchitectural structure, the age of which would exceed two hundred years. But even in this country, architectural monuments are loved and often imitated, giving an old Gothic look to not so long ago erected buildings.
Protection of cultural heritage
The world cultural space, created over several millennia by human civilization, cannot be imagined without material monuments, and above all without architectural heritage. Its protection is the responsibility of all governments on whose territory the monuments ended up due to historical circumstances. And such an international organization as UNESCO deals with this problem on a planetary scale. She carefully preserves especially significant architectural monuments and does everything to preserve them for future generations.
Territory of Russia
The history of our country is most often described starting with Kievan Rus. But on the territory of the modern federation there are many artifacts from much more distant eras.
Architectural monuments of Russia are mainly concentrated in its European part - in two historical capitals and in the largest settlements of medieval Russia. In tourist usage, they are usually called the cities of the Golden Ring. Among them are Sergiev Posad, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Rostov, Yaroslavl, Ivanovo, Kostroma, Vladimir and Suzdal. Of course, the list of settlements with a large number of ancient monumentsarchitecture is not limited to the cities of the Golden Ring - there are many of them in the Urals, and in Siberia, and in the Far East.
The heart of the great state - Moscow
For more than eight and a half centuries of its existence, the Russian capital has experienced a lot - fires, wars, revolutions and reconstruction. However, in terms of the total volume of cultural heritage, in terms of the number of historical and architectural monuments, Moscow has no equal cities. The Moscow Kremlin and the architectural ensemble of Red Square are included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. A significant number of architectural monuments are located throughout the city and beyond. Outstanding works of Russian architecture are located in historic noble estates and ancient Orthodox monasteries. The most important part of the capital's transport infrastructure - the Moscow Metro - is saturated with unique architectural monuments. Many of its stations, without the slightest exaggeration, can be classified as masterpieces of architecture.
St. Petersburg
The northern capital of Russia has a special destiny. It was originally conceived as something exceptional and completely different from any of the cities that existed at that time in the country. The best craftsmen and architects of the era, as well as many serfs who laid their lives on the foundation of the future capital of the Russian Empire, were involved in the creation of a unique city. And this idea was fully realized. Architectural monumentsPetersburg are known today throughout the civilized world. It is difficult to say whether the northern capital is inferior to Moscow in terms of their number. But in order to get acquainted in detail with the entire architectural heritage of the city on the Neva, a lifetime may not be enough, because you will have to examine a lot - from the Winter Palace to Peterhof, from Pavlovsk to Tsarskoe Selo. And this is not surprising - St. Petersburg was built from the first stones as an architectural monument.
Trip along the Volga
But in order to feel the cultural heritage of Russia, just getting to know the architectural monuments of both of its historical capitals is clearly not enough. To do this, it also makes sense to make a leisurely journey down the Volga - from Yaroslavl to Astrakhan. On the way you will meet such dissimilar cities as Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Samara, Saratov. The architectural heritage of each of them deserves attention. The old kremlins on the high slopes of the Volga in Nizhny Novgorod and Kazan leave a very vivid impression. In addition to large cities on the Volga, there are also less known, but very significant provincial historical settlements in Russian culture, such as Plyos and Myshkin. There are architectural monuments that are as old as well-known tourist attractions.
