Smolensk Region

Smolensk is one of the oldest cities in Russia. At the beginning of the 17th century, it was conquered by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and returned to Russia only at the end of the 17th century.

Smolensk Region has a lot of picturesque nature. For example, the Smolensk Lakeland is a beautiful national park with 35 lakes, which has the status of a UNESCO biosphere reserve.

It is surprising that yellow cabs, one of the symbols of New York City, are often associated with this Russian region. Born in Smolensk, Maurice Markin moved to the United States and became the owner of the Yellow Cab company, which, in the 1960s, began producing the famous Marathon cab model. These yellow cabs immediately gained popularity. And they were made famous in popular culture by Robert De Niro in the movie ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976).