We’ve already written about the ‘Grand Maket Rossiya’, a unique museum in St. Petersburg, where all of the country’s major landmarks are represented in miniature. A 1:87 scale of most parts of Russia is also on display in Moscow’s ‘Tsar-Maket’ museum-diorama.
Mini version of Russia's Golden Ring
There is another curious museum in the city of Yaroslavl - a model of Russia’s ‘Golden Ring’. All the cities along the ‘Golden Ring’ touristic route are depicted in miniature in one place.
It would take at least a week to get around them in reality, but you can explore this model in just an hour.
The model not only depicts the main attractions and ancient churches, but also recreates the life and atmosphere of the cities.
There’s a truck rushing to deliver materials to the construction site, while trains are arriving at the station (strictly on schedule); children are riding a carousel in the park and there’s even a burning hut that firemen are trying to put out.
Throughout the entire model, the creators left many interesting little details that are very fascinating to spot (Even Putin riding a bear through the woods, just like in the popular meme!).
By the way, on the 84 square meters of the layout, there are a total of 5,163 little inhabitants. And everyone has their own life, their own problems - someone is fixing their bicycle, someone had an accident, while someone is heading to a rally.
The model depicts the main cities of the ‘Golden Ring’: Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Uglich, Ivanovo, Rostov the Great, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Sergiev Posad, Vladimir and Suzdal. As well as cities which officially are beyond the ‘Ring’, but are inextricably linked with them through the cultural and historical past: Rybinsk, Shuya, Palekh and Tutaev.
While it’s winter in Kostroma (chosen because the legendary Snow Maiden was “born” there) and people are skiing, in Yaroslavl it’s summer and fans are filling the Arena-2000.
The creators also poked fun at stereotypes about Ivanovo, nicknamed ‘City of Brides’ – and you can see brides in white dresses chasing a groom down a little street.
Each attraction has its own unique sound – whether it is the noise of water at the Uglich hydroelectric power plant or the bell ringing of the St. Sergius Trinity Lavra in Sergiev Posad.
Every ten minutes, night falls, but life continues to boil. The lights turn on in the streets and windows of houses. Somewhere, you can see fireworks, while mini cars illuminate the road with their headlights.
“The most difficult tasks were to calculate the turning radius of the railroads, to position electronic components correctly, to design automobile routes and assemble all the necessary mechanisms,” Andrey Nazarov, the author of the project, says.
One hundred and forty-seven artists, engineers and sound engineers worked for two years on this miniature world. Even today, you can catch a glimpse of their studio (or take a guided tour) and watch them fixing things, testing trains and preparing new parts, buildings and stories.
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