Culture of Russia

Welcome to my Culture of Russia page.

For once you have visited Russia, have tested its rich history and culture, there is no turning back. Russia will be with you forever, setting up its myriad paradoxes, posing unanswerable questions, and beckoning you to return…

We, Russians, are very proud of our culture and history which can boast a long tradition of excellence in every aspect of the arts. Especially when it comes to Russian literature and philosophy, classical music and ballet in Russia, architecture and painting, cinema and animation, which all had considerable influence on the world culture.

Russian people consider themselves a well educated nation and I completely agree with that statement. It’s true we read a lot! Each year Russia graduates over 200,000 computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and physicists. Overall Russian folk general knowledge is very good. We know a little bit about literally everything. We are interesting individuals to talk to and enjoy deep subjects. Yap we read a lot…

“Three Bogatyrs” – Viktor Vasnetsov 1848 – 1926

Russian mythological and historical painter

But let’s get back to the subject. There is no culture of Russia without Russian language and Russian people. Russian society is non-individualistic and usually everyone has really big circle of family and friends. We are very communicative folk. There is no our country without holidays in Russia (you can see the list of them below) – we have a lot of them, love them and enjoy of celebrating every one of them very much! Yes, Russian people love to celebrate. We celebrate everything, from birthdays, weddings to car purchase. Sometimes the celebration reason looks ridiculous. But this is the way it is. We also like to go visit our friends and family and having guests as well. There is an Old Russian saying – “You can rack your brains, but you can’t beat hospitality!” hospitality is a longstanding tradition in Russian culture. In Russian society it is not thought impolite to drop in unannounced at a neighbor’s or friend’s home, even a suppertime – the host can then take delight in begging one to stay and share the evening meal. The presence of a guest is still considered an honor: it is a host who should thank his guests for coming, not other way around!

History is one of the main things binding Russian life together. It is simply impossible in Russia not to know your history. And I am going to present here a brief history of Russia for you.

Russian religion is Christianity and majority of Russians consider themselves as Christians and belong to Russian Orthodox Church. Russian Orthodox Church has a lot of traditions and I’m going to write about it because Russian Christmas and Russian New Year’s traditions are fascinating.

The Culture of Russia is a big journey, keep checking my website for the updates!

What are the core features for Russian Culture anyway? I have outlined for you here a good selection of the major contributors to Russian culture:

Russian Language

Brief History of Russia

Russian Religion and Russian Christmas

Russian Food and Russian sauna

Do and don’ts with Russians

Russian books and Russian Movies

Russian TV

Russian Radio and Russian Pop Music

Russian Internet and Russian search engines

Russia Current Events

Your Moscow Russian Travel Guide.

RUSSIAN NATIONAL HOLIDAYS

Holidays in Russia are important for citizens. All government offices and most other official institutions are closed on public holidays. Working days are often shifted. For instance, if it falls on a Tuesday or a Thursday, then the weekend is shifted a day towards the holiday and the Saturday or the Sunday becomes an official working day. On most holidays, you wish people a happy holiday by saying “s prazdnikom”.

January 1 – New Year
January 7 – Orthodox Christmas
February 23 – Defender of the Fatherland Day (informally known as Men’s Day) – by the way, you might find information about Russian Paratrooper’s Day quite interesting…
March 8 – International Women’s Day
May 1 – Day of Spring and Labor
May 9 – Victory Day
June 12 – Russia Day
November 4 – Day of Popular Unity

Posted

September 3, 2011

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