The most beautiful village in Russia is located in Buryatia. This is the village of Bolshoi Kunaley. It is home to the descendants of Old Believers who were resettled to Siberia in the 18th century. All-Russian Association "Most beautiful villages Russia ”held a solemn ceremony, installed a corresponding sign at the entrance.

1. The Buryat village of Bolshoi Kunaley was settled by Semeiskie Old Believers in 1765.

2. The peculiarity of the village is its houses. Folded from a bar, they are all painted in bright colors, with carved shutters and painted fences and are somewhat reminiscent of a children's fairy tale.

3. Now the population of Bolshoi Kunalei is about 1 thousand people, who are mainly engaged in agriculture.

4. Interestingly, most of the houses in Kunalei do not have front gardens. But there are always huge gardens - the Old Believers are always distinguished by great diligence and economy.

5. Unfortunately, many houses on the streets of Kunalei stand with closed shutters - although the Old Believer villages do not completely bend, like most villages in the country, people are still leaving.

6. In family houses there are always high windows, because most of the house is occupied by the cellar, where supplies from the garden and vegetable garden are stored.

7. The name of the most beautiful village in Russia comes from the name of the river Kunalei, which is translated from Buryat as “fold, assembly” - because there are many paddy in the middle of the taiga. The first settlers arrived here in the 1730s.

8. Semeiskie recreate folk costumes and preserve ritual folklore. The Bolshekunaleiskiy Folk Choir is the oldest song group in Siberia and Of the Far East, he is almost 90 years old. The famous semeysky chant of Russian folk songs of the Kunalei singing school is studied in many musical institutes, schools and colleges. The choir has toured abroad more than once, including in the USA, Europe, and Japan.

9. How do you choose the most beautiful village in Russia? "Applicants" are assessed according to several criteria. Experts pay attention to how often fairs and festivals are held in the settlement, get acquainted with its history, assess how harmoniously it fits into the surrounding landscape. An important role is played by photogenicity, road conditions, ecology and accessibility for tourists, etc.

Russia is an immense country with many wonderful places... Wide open spaces and picturesque views are what attracts tourists. At the same time, more and more often you want to see exactly quiet places. Small villages, parks - all this perfectly conveys closeness to nature.

The old villages of Russia are just what you need to relax, take a break from the bustle of the city. And if the village is also beautiful, rich in picturesque views, then everyone will certainly want to see it.
Of all the available country houses with nature, the following are especially famous:

A village located in the Omsk region. It attracts, first of all, with the incredible expanses of Siberia, its beauty. Local residents, who sincerely love their native land, deserve special attention.

There is an opinion that the village of Okunevo received a special significance after the arrival of one of the disciples of an Indian guru. Once in the village, the woman lived there for a few years, after which she returned to her homeland.

Fishing is especially developed in Okunevo. Active work takes place in creative workshops. Summer is the height of the season, the time for all kinds of holidays and events.

Siberian taiga, fresh air, healing lakes and interesting people around - Okunevo, Omsk region - a place that definitely deserves attention.

This village received its "second" life relatively recently. Picturesque views, beautiful old houses - all this was abandoned and fell into disrepair. Everything changed after the settlement Kaluga region noticed one of the architects.

So, thanks to Vasily Shchetinin, Nikolo-Lenivets became a museum under open air... Every detail here is made by hand by painstaking craftsmen. Intricate figures and many other interesting objects, located right on the ground, among the "clean" landscapes.

An ancient and incredibly beautiful village in Komi. It is located on the banks of the Pechora River and attracts the attention of people from all over the country.

The inhabitants of the village are mostly descendants of the Novgorod Old Believers. It is interesting that behind the shoulders of each inhabitant, of course, lies the history of his ancestors, who fled here in the hope of hiding from Nikon's transformations.

In addition to wide boundless spaces, you can see ancient crafts and their results in the village. Embroidery, woven towels and many other handicrafts are hidden in the chests of each of the houses.

The inhabitants themselves also retained an attachment to ancient customs. People of all ages take to the streets to dance, walk and have fun. There are even fairy tales and songs in the village! It is simply impossible to meet them anywhere else.

The population of the village is quite large, about 7 thousand people. There is a hotel, a small airport and several museums.

A village with such a complex name is located in the Yakut region. It is interesting to see how people have adapted to such harsh living conditions. The second name is Oymyakon - "pole of cold".

Indeed, the temperatures are very low here. According to some researchers, this place can rightfully be considered one of the coldest places on the entire planet.
It is interesting to see the "white" color of the summer nights, to fish and walk on the tundra.

The population of the village is about 500 people, each of whom is busy with his own business. Fishing, cattle breeding and handicrafts are widespread here.

Varzuga is located in Murmansk region, just two dozen kilometers from the White Sea.

Among the most interesting sights here are the Assumption Church, built in 1674 without a single nail, as well as a museum of everyday life, etc.
The traditional occupation of local residents is fishing, making dough figurines.

A village located in the Arkhangelsk region. One of the main attractions is the Nikolskaya chapel with a long history.

Vershinino is famous for its traditional holidays. The key occupation of the villagers is making northern bread, prepared according to the old recipe.

Buryat Territory. All the houses here are painted in variegated bright colors. Lots of green hills, old crafts.

It seems that everything here is saturated with an old spirit. And even the locals are people with their own history.

Yaroslavskaya oblast. It is rich in all kinds of museums (more than 10).

The villagers are indispensable participants in frequently held contests.

Village Srostki - Altai region... Countless meadows and grasses - this is what describes the vastness of the Srostok in the best possible way.

One of the most beautiful villages in Russia is the birthplace of actor Vasily Shukshin. Now the museum is open. It hosts thematic readings.

The village of Bogolyubovo is located in the Vladimir region. All of its architecture is the style of the twelfth century.

A large number of Holy buildings, their appearance (unlike modern buildings) made this place one of the most remarkable in Russia.

Even the foundations of one of the oldest castles have been preserved here.
As for the locals, these are the most ordinary people. Increasingly, they are replacing cars with boats that help move around the territory during the spill season.

The international tourism brand "The Most Beautiful Villages" appeared in France in 1982, and then the idea spread throughout the world. Since 2014, such an association has been operating in Russia. Its founder and president is Professor of the Department of Agricultural Tourism of the RSAU-Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazeva, Doctor of Economics Alexander Merzlov. The goal of the Association is the development of rural tourism and the involvement of rural residents in the processes of self-development and increasing the attractiveness of rural areas. The Association "The Most Beautiful Villages of Russia" unites rural settlements with an outstanding historical, cultural and natural heritage. Villages, villages, townships, stanitsas, auls and other rural settlements with a population of no more than 2 thousand people who have preserved, at least partially, the rural way of life and have a pronounced desire to develop and inspire people to love rural Russia, can join the Association.

At the moment, the Association includes four settlements: the villages of Vyatskoe (Yaroslavl region), Desyatnikovo (Buryatia), Oshevensky Pogost (Arkhangelsk region) and the Karelian village of Kinerma.

Village Vyatskoe

In 2015, Vyatskoye in the Nekrasovsky district of the Yaroslavl region was recognized as the most beautiful village in Russia. In the village, you can look into one of 10 museums, take pictures of old mansions and architectural historical monuments, admire the cobweb of rivers and endless valleys of all shades of green in the vicinity.

The village of Vyatskoye has been mentioned since 1502. It was the patrimony of Patriarch Filaret. Old Believers settled here. Of course, over the years of its existence, the village has lost its beauty. During the Soviet era, churches and old houses in the village were dilapidated. The village was restored by the Yaroslavl businessman Oleg Zharov, who bought the estate.

Today, the village of Vyatskoye is a unique urban development complex of the 18-19 centuries, in which there are more than 50 registered architectural monuments that were former merchant and peasant houses, tea and tavern establishments, and almshouses. The basis of the historical and cultural heritage of Vyatskoye is, first of all, the planning structure of the village, almost entirely dating back to the 18th century.

A restaurant is open in Vyatskoye, cinema and concert hall and three hotels, which are visited annually by tens of thousands of tourists. In addition to the generally recognized holidays - Krasnaya Gorka and Maslenitsa, they celebrate their own celebrations like the Feast of the Russian Wreath or the Birthday of Peter Telushkin. Vyatskoye hosts the traditional All-Russian Nekrasov Festival of Poetry, the annual festival "Days of Nekrasov", as well as the annual Festival "Province - the Soul of Russia", the ideological inspirer of which is the famous opera singer Lyubov Kazarnovskaya.

The village of Desyatnikovo

Desyatnikovo, located in Buryatia near the Selenga River, was included in the Association "The Most Beautiful Villages of Russia" in 2016. For the first time, the village is mentioned in historical documents since 1746: “Paintings of the Tarbagatai Zosimo-Savatievskaya Church by parishioners of different villages”.

Out of a dozen original villages of the region, it is distinguished by amazing landscapes - the village is located next to the Barsky ridge, overgrown with a century-old forest. Desyatnikovo is known for its brightly painted houses. In the past, the homes of wealthy peasants were characterized by brightly colored paintings of interior walls, ceilings and stoves. They have been preserved in the chambers and on the ceilings of houses in the village. These murals are striking in their colorfulness, richness of colors, unexpected combination of colors. Locals preserve not only the appearance of their scenic spot but also folk traditions and crafts.

Oshevensky Pogost

The village of Oshevensky Pogost, Kargopol District, Arkhangelsk Region, is the youngest member of the Most Beautiful Villages of Russia Association. Currently, 73 people live in it.

An ancient settlement in the Kargopol region has the right to bear the honorary title of the most beautiful village in Russia. Its main attraction is the Holy Dormition Alexander Oshevensky Monastery, founded in 1453 by St. Alexander of Oshevensky. The monastery is located at the entrance to the village.

It is worth coming here for the historic quarter of traditional northern wooden buildings, the center of which is the wooden complex of the Church of the Epiphany and the bell tower of 1787.

Tourists are attracted here by old smoke baths and master classes on old spinning wheels. Until now, Russian wedding ceremonies also live in the Oshevensky Pogost, for example, the baking of ceremonial cookies from salted dough - teetoks.

Kinerma village

Kinerma was named the most beautiful village in Russia in 2016. It is located on the territory of the Vedlozersky rural settlement in the Pryazhinsky national region of Karelia. The first written mention of it dates back to 1563, and its name is translated into Russian as “precious land”.

The ancient Karelian village of Kinerma, which has been standing among the Karelian forests for almost 500 years, is one of the wonders of the Finno-Ugric world. Everything here is imbued with the spirit of history. The oldest of the buildings were built in the 18th century. The village consists of 17 houses, 10 of which are considered architectural monuments. All buildings are located in a circle, and in the center there is an old cemetery. In the center of the village there is a chapel of Our Lady of Smolensk of the 18th century, in which the miraculous icon "Odigitria of Smolenskaya" was located for more than 300 years. Since 1979, the icon has been transferred to the Museum of Fine Arts of Petrozavodsk. The village has a well, a smoke sauna, a barn with a souvenir shop, a traditional peasant house and a mini-hotel have been restored.

Lovers of history and antiquity who have come to Kinerma have the opportunity not only to get acquainted with the life of the Karelians as a museum exposition, but also to live in old houses themselves, wash in a 100-year-old smoke sauna, taste traditional Karelian cuisine: gates, kalarokku , walk through the forest to lambushka and Vedlozero, enjoy nature and silence. You can spend the night in the upper room with antique utensils for 1000 rubles a day.

Every year, several thousand Russian and foreign tourists come to the village, where only six people live. This turned out to be an unbearable load for the settlement. The Minister of Culture of Karelia Aleksey Lesonen said that the population of Kinerma had received a request to periodically close the road sign: the number of guests entering the village exceeds its recreational capabilities.

Traditions section publications

8 beautiful villages of Russia

Pomor settlements in the Arkhangelsk region, the villages of Old Believers in Buryatia, a merchant village in the Yaroslavl region ... We have selected 8 Russian villages with beautiful landscapes, original museums and architectural monuments. We go to virtual travel and #were in Russia.

1. Vorzogory, Arkhangelsk region

In Vorzogory there is a wooden church of Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky in 1850. There is also a unique monument - a wooden tee, the only one that has survived, which is located right on the seashore. It consists of the Nikolskaya Church (1636), the Vvedenskaya Church (1793) and the bell tower (18th century). In past centuries, similar architectural ensembles on the seashore were quite common, but today all, except for Vorzogorsk, are destroyed. Monuments of wooden architecture and picturesque sea sunsets attract travelers and artists to Vorzogory.

Vorzogory village

The village of Vorzogory. View of the White Sea

Vorzogory village

2. Vyatskoe, Yaroslavl region *

The village of Vyatskoye in the Yaroslavl region was founded in 1502. Not only farmers lived here, but also merchants. Vyatskoe developed rapidly and by the beginning of the 19th century resembled small town with cobbled streets, wooden and stone mansions, churches.

Today there are 10 museums in Vyatskoye. In the House of the merchant Gorokhov, visitors will be offered to work in a merchant's shop and pickle vegetables according to a 19th century recipe. In the Polytechnic Museum "The Amazing World of Mechanisms and Machines", guests will be taught how to create engraving on a special machine of the century before last, and in " Children's world"Will show the largest collection of children's toys in Russia. The village even has its own amusement park: swings and carousels there are recreated according to old drawings.

Village Vyatskoe

The village of Vyatskoe. Museum "Children's World"

Village Vyatskoe

3. Kiltsa, Arkhangelsk region

"The Beaten Kingdom" - the village of Kiltsa in the Arkhangelsk Region - was first mentioned in the Russian census of 1623. Every house in Kielz is decorated with carved balconies, patterned platbands or figured skates on the roofs.

Kiltsa is famous for its vowed crosses: before, the locals installed them "on a promise." Crosses could remind of a happy event - healing from a serious illness or the birth of a child. Sometimes they were installed in memory of adversity - lean years or floods. It was believed that crosses protect local residents from harm. They brought cloth panels, scarves, and towels to the crosses. The most famous cross stands at the entrance to the village.

Kilca village

Kilca village

Kilca village

4. Kimzha, Arkhangelsk region

Traditional rituals are still observed in Pogost. Before the wedding, salty cookies are baked: it is believed that they bring prosperity to the family. Local residents also teach tourists how to cook ritual dishes, spin on old spinning wheels and use a broom correctly in a Russian bath. Guided tours of architectural monuments.

* Member of the Association of the Most Beautiful Villages of Russia

Oshevensky pogost village

Oshevensky pogost village

Oshevensky pogost village

Natural landscape, historical value, stunning appearance and no more than two thousand inhabitants - these are the selection frameworks for the Association "The Most Beautiful Villages of Russia". So far, this association includes 3 villages, and the list of candidates includes more than a dozen domestic villages.

Vyatskoe

In 2015, Vyatskoye in the Nekrasovsky district of the Yaroslavl region was recognized as the most beautiful village in Russia. In the village, you can look into one of 10 museums, take pictures of old mansions and admire the cobwebs of rivers and endless valleys of all shades of green in the vicinity.

A restaurant, a cinema and concert hall and three hotels have been opened in Vyatskoye, which are visited by tens of thousands of tourists every year. In addition to the generally recognized Krasnaya Gorka and Maslenitsa, they celebrate their own celebrations like the Russian Broom Festival or the Birthday of Peter Telushkin. The story about the trip to Vyatskoye can be read here.

Oshevensky churchyard

Oshevensky Pogost, Kargopol District, Arkhangelsk Region, is the youngest member of the Most Beautiful Villages of Russia association. It was included in the prestigious list earlier this summer.


It is worth coming here for the historic quarter of traditional northern buildings, the center of which is the wooden complex of the Church of the Epiphany and the bell tower of 1787. On the outskirts of the village, the Alexander-Oshevensky Monastery, founded in the 15th century, has also survived and functions.

Kinerma

Kinerma, located on the territory of the Pryazhinsky national region of Karelia, was named the most beautiful village in Russia in 2016. It consists of 17 houses, 10 of which are considered architectural monuments. All buildings are arranged in a circle, and in the center there is an old cemetery and a restored 250-year-old chapel.


The village has a well, a smoke sauna, a barn with a souvenir shop, a traditional peasant house and a mini-hotel have been restored. You can spend the night in the upper room with antique utensils for 1000 rubles a day.

Desyatnikovo

Desyatnikovo, located near the Selenga River in Buryatia, will be included in the "Most Beautiful Villages of Russia" in the fall of 2016. Out of a dozen original villages in the region, it is distinguished by amazing landscapes - the village is located next to the Barsky ridge, overgrown with a century-old forest, as well as an unusual "appearance". Desyatnikovo is known for its brightly painted houses, which amaze with an unexpected combination of colors.

Photo: Kuznetsov / wikimedia

Tarbagatai

In Buryatia, 52 km from Ulan-Ude on the Kuytunka River, there is another candidate for the Association “The Most Beautiful Villages of Russia”. In May 2001, UNESCO declared the village a "masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of mankind" and included in the first list of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).


Tarbagatai was founded at the beginning of the 18th century, where Old Believers moved from the territory of modern Belarus a little later. In the village you can still see Old Believer houses painted in bright colors with painted shutters and fancy fences.

Cosmozero

The village of Kosmozero, located at the long and narrow, like a river, lake of the same name, is a candidate for the title of the most beautiful village in Russia, and at the same time the most picturesque village in the Medvezhyegorsk region of Karelia.


The village has been known since the 16th century - the historical landscape with hayfields, as well as old complexes of huts and courtyards-sheds, are still preserved here. The main pearl of the Cosmozero is the ensemble of parish churches. True, today you can see only the restored tent-roofed Assumption Church of 1720.

Staraya Ladoga

One of the Association's candidates is located on the banks of the Volkhov River in the Leningrad Region. Staraya Ladoga is also considered one of the oldest villages in the country: its history goes back over 1200 years.


True, call Old Ladoga the village is not entirely ethical: once it was one of largest cities Novgorod Rus and the starting point of the great waterway "from the Varangians to the Greeks."

Izborsk

Another candidate for the best villages in Russia is located on the shores of Lake Gorodishchenskoye, 30 km from Pskov. Local guidebooks call Izborsk "the keeper of the secrets of history, a source of inspiration for artists and writers." Nicholas Roerich did paint here, Andrei Tarkovsky filmed Andrei Rublev, and the Pskov artist Pavel Melnikov dedicated more than 200 paintings to Izborsk.


It is worth coming here to see the famous Truvorovo settlement with a memorial cross, to see the stone fortress on Zheravya Gora and to photograph the ensemble of the Malsky monastery located not far from the village.

Yasnaya Polyana

Yasnaya Polyana, located 15 km from Tula, is perhaps the most famous candidate for the Most Beautiful Village in Russia Association. It is here that the estate of Leo Tolstoy is located, where fans of the writer come from all over the world.


Here you need to go to the writer's house, as well as pay attention to the local lush park. It is worth looking at the remains of the greenhouse, in which apricots and pineapples were grown at that time, look at the stables and the coachman's, walk along the birch bridge and see the Middle Pond, where Lev Nikolayevich arranged a bathhouse every summer.

Shinaz

The list of the most beautiful villages in Russia may be added to the village of Shinaz in southern Dagestan. It is located at an altitude of 1750 meters above sea level, 13 km from the regional center of Rutul.


“A tall minaret juts out over the flat roofs of sakles molded one above the other. In places, pyramidal poplars adorn the aul, cherry trees grow in the gardens, and there, in the south, behind the aul, you can see the snowy mountains stretching beyond the Samur valley and sparkling in the sun with silver ", - this is how the Russian scientist Nikolai Kuznetsov Shinaz described in 1911. And it seems that now, after a century, nothing has changed here.