Free time
Where and how do Russians typically spend their free time
The most popular theaters in Moscow
Do Russians like movies?
Sports in Russian life
What is a ‘park of culture and rest’?
Sanitariums, resort hotels, and rest homes
What is a dacha?
Russian people, like people from all over the world, spend their free time in varied ways depending on the interests of the individual or the family in question. So, where and how do Russians spend their spare time?
In Russia, people go to the theater, the movies, museums, attend exhibitions or sporting events, and go on tours or go to the country.
Sponsor: Russian music
A particular favorite is going to the theater. In practically every major city, there is at least one theater. In Moscow, there are over one hundred theaters and their number is continually increasing. A favorite is the Bolshoi Theater, famous throughout the world for its shows and performers. Other theaters that are especially popular are MKhAT, MKhT, the Maly Theater, the Leninsky Komsomol Theater, the Satire Theater, and the Operetta Theater amongst others. There are also theaters for children, such as the Russian Youth Academic Theater, the Young Spectator’s Theater, and the Obraztsov Puppet Theater.
Russian theater is well-known throughout the world thanks to such famous teachers as Kon-stantin Stanislavsky and Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko. A variety of theater festivals are held in Russia every year, and Russian theaters tour successfully in many countries abroad. Every year in Moscow, the Golden Mask prize is awarded across a wide spectrum of nominations. Both new plays and new productions of old classics have appeared, all arousing great interest from the spectators.
In Moscow, classical music lovers can go to the Moscow Conservatory and to the Moscow Philharmonic Society, where leading ensembles and performers appear. Russian classical music and the works of great Russian composers are well-known throughout the world.
Russians of course, also like going to the movies. Now that VCRs have appeared, people go to the movies less frequently than they used to, when going out to a film used to be one of the favorite pastimes of most Russians. Still, in every Russian city, and even in the small ones, there is at least one movie theater. Lately in Moscow, St. Petersburg and in other big cities, modern stereophonic movie theaters have appeared.
Every other year in June, the Moscow International Film Festival is held, which is becoming steadily more and more popular. During the festival, a wide variety of new films by directors from all over the world are shown. In addition to the Moscow International Film Festival, many other film festivals are held throughout Russia. The most well-known of them is the Kinotavr festival, which is held every summer in Sochi on the coast of the Black Sea. As in the theater world, there a great number of awards that are presented for movies, the most well-known of which are the Nika and the Golden Eagle awards, which also cover a broad spectrum of nominations such as best film and best director. As such, actors and directors from both film and theater are very popular in Russia.
Many people go to concerts featuring their favorite performers and groups. In the 1970s and 80s in Russia, rock music and rock bands were very popular among the youth, but now pop music come to the forefront. Every year, a variety of prizes are presented to popular performers, and the birthdays of well-known singers are widely celebrated. Russian performers participate in international contests too, in particular Eurovision, and earn high honors there, although they remain little-known and scarcely popular in other countries. Western pop and rock stars from the last few decades, as well as more contemporary ones, frequently perform in Russia, and always to full houses.
Art exhibitions and galleries are also popular among Russians. The most famous one in Moscow is the Tretyakov Gallery, where thousands of works of art are exhibited, from Russian icons of the 11th and 12th centuries to works by modern Russian artists. The Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts is also very interesting. In addition to its permanent collection, the Pushkin.
Museum hosts exhibitions from museums from all over the world. Lately in Moscow, smaller galleries showing the works of well-known artists such as I. Glazunov and A. Shilov have also appeared.
Russia is home to a very large number of museums. In Moscow, we recommend visiting the Kremlin, the Armory, the Diamond Fund and the Historical Museum. In smaller Russian cities, there is always a regional museum where you can find out more about the region’s history and culture.
Many Russians enjoy participating in sports or attending sporting events in their free time. Sports have always been popular in Russia, and the achievements of Soviet and Russian athletes across a wide variety of events are well-known throughout the world. In Moscow and in other major cities, there are a great many stadiums, sports complexes and sports clubs offering classes for children and adults. The most popular types of sports in Russia are soccer, ice hockey, tennis and figure skating. There are excellent sports complexes in Moscow, the most famous being Luzhniki Stadium, the largest stadium in Europe. Dynamo Stadium, one of Europe’s oldest, is very popular among Muscovites of all generations. As for modern sports buildings, attention should be drawn to the Krylatskoe Rowing Canal and the Olympiysky Sports Complex, built for the 1980 Moscow Olympics, as well as the Ice Palace in Khodynskoye Pole (“Khodynskoye Field”).
Many Russians are fond of relaxing in parks on the weekend. In Moscow, as in other cities, there are a lot of parks for relaxing and taking walks. In addition to these though, there are also ‘parks of culture and rest’. The most well-known of these parks are the Gorky Park of Culture and Rest, Sokolniki Park, and Izmailovsky Park. In such parks, families can relax together all day long. There are many attractions there, places to rest, and cafes where you can have a bite to eat or buy some water and ice cream. Muscovites and visitors from other cities freguent-ly enjoy trips to the WTs — the All-Russian Exhibition Center, formerly known as VDNKh — the Exhibition of the People’s Economic Achievements. The VVTs cover an enormous territory with their exhibition pavilions displaying the works of various branches of industry, agriculture and science, as well as with their numerous stores, kiosks and cafes. There is also a lot of greenery there, as well as pretty fountains and sculptures.
For children, one of the most attractive places to visit is the circus, and in Moscow there are two of them: the so-called old circus, which is located on Tsvetnoy Bul-var (“Tsvetnoy Boulevard”), and the so-called new circus on Ver-nadsky Prospect. And naturally, children (and frequently even adults) like going to the zoo. The Moscow Zoo is located almost in the center of the city, making it very easy to get there.
You should also pay attention to the great number of temples and monasteries that are located in Russia. For a long time, Orthodoxy played a very important role in Russian life: all church traditions were observed publicly, and Orthodox holidays were celebrated nationwide. After the Great October Socialist Revolution though, a great number of temples and monasteries were destroyed, looted, or shut down. In the 1990s though, many of these were restored, since so many of these temples also serve as monuments of Russian architecture. Saint Basil’s Cathedral, located on Red Square, is a unique example of Russian architecture that is well-known throughout the entire world. Magnificent cathedrals from the 16th century housed in the Blagoveshiensky, Arkhan-gelsky, Uspensky and Ivan the Great Bell Towers are also located right nearby, within the territory of the Kremlin. In 2000, the Temple of Christ the Savior, which was destroyed in the 1930s, was rebuilt entirely on its former site. It is now the largest temple in Moscow, the center of the Russian Orthodox faith.
Bus excursions to towns located near Moscow are also very popular among Russians. One of the most interesting excursions is to the ‘golden ring of Russia’, which comprises a tour of old Russian towns such as Suzdal, Vladimir and Rostov Veliky, amongst others. You will also enjoy visiting architectural ensembles from the 15th to 19th centuries throughout Moscow and Moscow’s suburbs, such as the State Historical Architectural Museum Preserves of Ko-lomenskoye and Abramtsevo, the country estates of Kuskovo and Arkhangelskoye, as well as the architectural ensemble at Ostanki-no. In 2007, in commemoration of the 860th anniversary of the founding of Moscow, the unique palace and park of Tsaritsino (built originally in the 18th century) was fully restored and opened to the public. All places such as the ones listed above are popular destinations for relaxation and sightseeing.
For vacations, many Russians tend to choose popular spots in Central Russia or on the Black Sea. Throughout all of Russia there is any number of picturesque places with a wide selection of sanitariums, resort hotels, and rest homes. Children often spend their vacation in summer camps, which are also numerous all over the country. You can also buy tour packages to countries all over the world, as well as on a variety of cruises. Such relaxing abroad is now very popular. You can find Russian tourists in practically all the countries of the world, but Russians especially enjoy relaxing in Turkey, Greece, Spain, Italy, and Thailand.
Sports vacations are also popular, in particular hiking, kayaking, and mountain climbing.
But probably a Russian’s favor ite place for spending free time would be the dacha. This is a small house with a piece of land attached to it, usually of about 400 to 600 square meters. Many families have dachas where they can relax and grow flowers, fruit and vegetables. Most dachas are not located very far from the city, so that it is possible to get there relatively quickly. If your Russian friends have a dacha, they will most likely invite you there for a relaxing weekend.
In this chapter, we have told you where Muscovites and visitors to the city enjoy spending their free time. That is, we have told you something about Moscow’s most popular sights. But regardless of the city in question, all Russian people enjoy qoing to the theater and to the movies, attending exhibitions, concerts and museums, and going on various excursions to other cities, as well as reading books, listening to music, working and relaxing at the dacha.
Russia has a very rich culture and a beautiful diverse nature, and in any nook you will be able to spend your free time in an interesting and useful way.
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