The tour about russian cities Text 7 European part

Exercise 1. Read the text and say why Taganrog contributed greatly to the history of Russia.

Taganrog is the town on the bank of the Azov Sea. Only here you can see a frozen sea. The first fortress was laid here by Peter I in 1696. This town is considered to be the cradle of the first Russian Azov fleet. We can see the monument to Peter I in one of the streets. After the defeat in the war with Turkey the fortress was destroyed and only in 1735 it was restored and in 1774 according to the decree of Katherine II Taganrog became a town.

Some famous people lived here for some years. Emperor Alexander I lived here in Grecheskaya Street. P.I. Chaikovsky spent some years here. Now there is a library and a museum in his house. Taganrog is the birthplace of A.P. Chekhov. He lived in Politseyskaya Street. The monument to him was opened in 1903 and in 1920s Chekhov museum was established in Taganrog.

Exercise 5. Read the text and say why this town is of interest to archeologists and historians.

The next famous town in Rostov region is Azov. During the reign of Peter I there was only a fortress here. Originally it was a Turkish fortress.

In the archeological-historical museum one can see the richest collection of the items of the Bronze and Iron Ages, of Medieval period and the treasures of Sarmation Gold. The exhibitions tell about the history and nature, about paintings and applied art of Azov area.

In the streets of Azov we can see the memorials devoted to the time of Peter I. They include the cannons of that time and the monument to him.

Text 8 Asian part

Exercise 1. Read the next text and get ready to answer the questions which are given after the text.

There are a lot of famous and interesting cities in Asian part of Russia. Among them we can mention such cities as Vladivostok, a great port, Khabarovsk, Komsomolsk-on-the-Amur, which was built by young people in 1930s, Chita and a lot of others.

Irkutsk region is famous for Lake Baikal. Irkutsk is situated on the bank of the Angara. In 1652 there appeared the Cossack settlement but already in 1686 it became the trading and administrative one. This region was the place of the exile of the Decembrists. Here also Yaroslav Gashek worked.

The next city of this region is Khaita. It is the place of famous porcelain workers.

Angarsk is a young industrial city. It was built only in 1946 in the valley of the young pine wood.

Usolye Sibirskoye was first a settlement, appeared in the XVII century. The inhabitants of it were occupied in the salt mining.

Ust-Kuda is famous as the example of natural landscape called Kamchatnik.

In Urik there is the tomb of the Decembrist Muravyov.

In Olonky the Decembrist Rayevsky is buried.

Listvyanka is one of the most picturesque places on the shores of the Baikal. Chekhov compared this landscape with the scenery of Yalta.

Bratsk is a very interesting city. It consists of several municipal districts which are situated in distance of tens of kilometers from each other.

In one word Irkutsk region is a good place for tourism.

Exercise 2. Answer the questions: What places in Irkutsk region: a) are famous for their special occupations?

b) are connected with the names of the Decembrists?

c) have unique landscape?