The Russian town of Kalyazin is located on the Volga river north of Moscow (view Kalyazin on Google Maps).  This town of about 15,000 people was founded in 1134 but most of the historical city is now under water. In 1940, most the town was flooded during the creation of the Uglich Reservoir.  While most of the town was relocated to higher ground, the bell tower of the Makaryevsky monastery can still be seen sticking out of the Volga.  Here are some historical and modern photos of Kalyazin.

Kalyazin – on Yandex Photos

Kalyazin – on Yandex Photos

Bell tower in Kalyazin on Yandex Photos.

“Invitation to a tour …” on Yandex Photos.

Belfry by peterdanilov on Flickr.

You can see many more photos on Yandex Photos and Flickr.

Flickr user SebastianBerlin recently published this beautiful picture of the Church of Our Lady of Kazan in Kolomenskoye, Russia.

Kolomenskoje by SebastianBerlin on Flickr.

We often see pictures of beautiful Russian monasteries and churches online. Recently, these photos caught our eye. These photo of the Raifa Bogoroditsky Monastery show the real progress that has been made in restoring Russia’s many historic churches and monasteries. Compare these recent photos to the ones found on the monastery’s website and read about the incredible 300-year history of the Raifa Bogoroditsky Monastery.

Раифа Raifa by Paprikash27 on Flickr.

by diletant28 on Yandex Photos

Historical photos from raifa.ru

Flickr user izvetlana recently posted a fascinating photo set of bears fishing on the Kuril Islands. Here are a few samples of these fantastic photos of the amazing Russian bear.

Kuril islands by izvetlana.

clutches by izvetlana.

The winner by izvetlana.

by izvetlana.

White night in St Petersburg by ErikAnna on Flickr.

Moscow metro by juan del pozo on Flickr.

by Dmitry Mordolff on Flickr.

A unique example of Soviet art in Podolsk, Moscow region.

by akk_rus on Flickr.

Flickr user PavelFromT recently published a nice set of photos featuring the Kremlin in Tobolsk, Siberia. Here are a few examples, but make sure to check out the whole photo set.

From the photo set Tobolsk’s Kremlin by PavelFromT on Flickr.

by Dmitry Mordolff.