The most popular Russian souvenir is well-known Matryoshka (Little Matron) – wooden doll decorated with paintings with the same figures of a smaller size inside of it. The Matryoshka Doll was designed in 1890 by Sergei Malyutin, Russian painter of the Abramtsevo circle, and made by Vassily Zvyozdochkin, the best doll master from Sergiev Posad. The idea of the Matryoshka was suggested by similar Japanese Fukurokuju doll brought by wife of Savva Mamontov from the Hokkaido Island. Matryoshka made an impression at the Exposition Universelle of 1900 in Paris and soon became one of the main symbols of Russia in the world. That’s why we are not sure that you would be understood quite well by you familiars if you return from Russia without Matryoshkas. At the Museum of the Toy Factory in Sergiev Posad you have a chance to see and purchase different kinds of this fascinating Russian souvenir and even to take part in painting of Matryoshka or in making of traditional Russian rag doll.
Rostov is famous for its enamelwork that won a lot of prizes on the international exhibitions. The craft of enamelwork was known in Russia since XII c.. The art of enamel painting especially flourished in Rostov in the XIX c.. First it served for church needs. Enamel was used to decorate church utensils, miniature icons, crosses, bindings of the Gospels etc.. In 1960 the Rostov Enamel Factory was founded. The Rostov enamel is famous for its unique technology of manufacture. It has a multilayer coating and after further kilning Rostov enamel gains specific qualities which prevent it from darkening and become waterproof. At local Museum of the Rostov Enamel you can see and purchase charming samples of this wonderful craft.
Palekh is an ancient Russian village that together with two other villages Mstera and Kholui is the birthplace of world-renowned miniature lacquered boxes that resemble wonderful flowers. The boxes present small masterpieces that are very expressive in their execution. The skills of Palekh craftsmen are transmitted from generation to generation and are zealously kept in secret. One of the most mysterious secrets is secret of Palekh colors. Palekh craftsmen use only natural ingredients in their paints like egg emulsion.
The road going to the south-east from the Golden Ring main road leads to small town of Gus-Khrustalny (Crystal Goose) famous with the fine pieces of glass-work. It was founded in the mid-XVIII c. when the first cut-glass enterprise was built on the bank of the forest Gus River by Akim Maltsov and development of national glass manufacture and famous dynasty of glass industrialists began. The mostly known representative of this dynasty Yury Nechaev-Maltsov was the major private donor to the Pushkin Fine Art Museum in Moscow. The local museum comprises a fine collection of cut-glass pieces and glass-works. In Gus-Khrustalny you can purchase author’s handmade cut-glass. Usually you can find similarities with the goose bird in the original products made by local craftsmen.
The best way to get acquainted with the Golden Ring is guided tour by car. Such kind of trip provides you with opportunity to be acquainted in details with history, nature and culture of Central Russia, a way of life and hospitality of Russian province inhabitants. You are unlimited in choice of your tour duration: from one-day tour from Moscow to Vladimir – Suzdal, to Sergiev Posad, to Pereslavl-Zalessky or to Rostov till, for example, 5-day tour including all main Golden Ring places of interest. You can reach the main big cities of Golden Ring by comfortable trains, e.g. from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Vladimir, Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Ivanovo. Local guide will meet you directly at the railway station just on your arrival.
We kindly pay your attention that a lot of architectural monuments on the Golden Ring are functioning churches and monasteries of the Russian Orthodox Church so we kindly ask you observe regulations and traditions of this structure visiting such objects. Visiting of churches and functioning monasteries in shorts and t-shirt is not permitted. Ladies visiting Russian Orthodox functionin monasteries should have skirts below the knee and head scarfs.
Please check attentively customer regulations and regulations of food products import to your country if you decide to purchase gastronomic or antiquarian souvenirs. Please try to buy antiques at specialized shops providing their customers with special certificates for presenting at the Custom-office. Smoked fish is to be vacuum-packed. Your local guide will recommend you places where you can purchase original authentic souvenirs and safe food products available for transport to your country.
Golden Ring is the best place to taste original Russian cuisine. One of the main gastronomic symbols of Russia is blini – Russian pancakes traditionally served with caviar, sour cream or jam. There are also blini with different fillings such as meat, quark.
Russian cuisine is characterized by great amount of different soups. Borscht (soup with fresh cabbage, beet and tomato usually improved with sour cream) and shchi (fresh or sour cabbage soup often with mushrooms) are well-known as typical Russian dishes. It is quite correct for shchi but place of origin of borscht is Ukraine. Any case borscht became very popular dish in Russia, Poland, Byelorussia, Lithuania, Romania. Very popular are also ukha (fresh fish-soup), solyanka (meat, fish or mushroom soup where traditional ingredients of shchi are combined with different sour, salty and piquant ingredients: pickled cucumbers, olives, capers, lemon, kvass, salted or pickled mushrooms), rassolnik (traditional soup made of pickled cucumbers, pearl barley and pork or beef kindeys), sorrel soup, svekolnik (cold beet soup), okroshka (cold kvass soup with chopped vegetables and meet), vzvar (sweet soup with dried fruits).
If kvass was mentioned we recommend you to taste this traditional for all Slavic and Baltic peoples and very popular in Russia fermented drink in Sergiev Posad. In summer period kvass made by the Trinity-Sergius Laura economy is sold directly at the monastery grounds. The following drinks are also widely spread: kissel (viscous fruit dish popular as a dessert and as a drink), mors (non-carbonated traditional Russian fruit drink prepared of berries, mainly of red bilberry and cranberry), honey drinks (medovukha, sbiten).
The next very popular in Russia dishes are golubtsi (cabbage rolls filled with meat and rice and usually served with sour cream – East Slavic variety of dish very popular at the Balkans, the Caucasus, West and Central Asia) and pelmeni (meat dumplings – traditional dish of Finno-Ugric peoples usually served with sour cream or with oil and vinegar; different varieties of it are popular in China, Korea, the Caucasus, Italy, South Germany, Crimea, Central Asia), studen or kholodets (Russian variety of aspic — meat-jelly known in Germany, Poland, Ukraine, Latvia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia).
Well-known the Russian salad (meat, chicken, crabs or sausages with potato, green peas, pickled cucumbers and boiled eggs thickened with mayonnaise) was created not long ago (the end of the XIX c.). In Russia this dish is called the Olivier salad but many investigators consider that the owner of Paris cuisine the Hermitage Restaurant in Moscow Lucien Olivier, cook of Belgian origin, was shocked when Russian diners began to cut and mix ingredients of his dainty Russian Snack (originally there were abdomens of crayfishes, baked pork, black caviar, pickled cucumbers and green peas laid out separately on the big dish) and eat this mash thickened with mayonnaise!
