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One more hospitable old town of
Nizhny Povolzhye is Astrakhan.
It is situated on tens ofislands,
that's why it is often called as
<Volga Venice>.
The cupolas ofthe Uspensky and
the Trinity (Troitsky) cathedrals are
glittering in the sun. They are located in the Kremlin, which is the
lomess of I6ıh cennı)ı" the main
sight and the symbol of the town.
Besides its beauty, it astonishes by
the power of walls of 12 meters in
height and 5 meters ofthickness.
Streets are separated from the Kremlin. During our sightseeing tour we
will walk along the main ones. There
are some ancient town houses of the
oriental merchants. Their buildings
with the pronounced oriental coloring are adjoining with the others that
were built in a classical style. This
tı'ade street was always noisy and
crowded. Here iı is ıiIl now.
The most ofthe residences of
the 19th century is located at the
Krasnaya Quay. Their owners, prosperous merchants tried to show
their wealth in any ways.
Houses, built on a big way,
richly and aırogant1y, are almost
compeling with each other in
1uxury.
The Astrakhan wooden architecture impresses not less then the others. The striking example is the
house of Tetushinov merchant. The
2-storey mansions with caııed
drop, the columns, and the galleries
were made in folk traditions.
.,All religions. eslablishing in
Astrakhan, are living in peace>,
thus the first guide book of 1 900
presented the town. This statement
is wofih repeating again now.
The Orthodox churches in Astrakhan are very numerous:
aınong lhe magnificent Triniıy
(Troitsky) and Uspensky cathedrals, there are the John the Baptist Cathedral, the Kazan Saint
Mother Cathedral, the Pokrovsky
Cathedral... At the beginning of
the l8th century the admirable
Roman-Catholic church was
raised.There are also great deals
ofmosques. Except the sightseeing tours along Astraklıan, the vis_
itors will be offered unusual trips
in the country. Less than hour will
it take to get to the Water-melon
Museum, because water-melon
could be considered as one ofthe
symbols of Astrakhan.
A wonder-competition is the
snail races, which are held in the
onl5 Russian larm. breeding ıropical snails and giant freshwater
shrimps. Sightseeing tour will
finish with the tasting
of fish and other delicacy.
In general, fish and fish meal
could be considered a visit card of
Astrakhan. Not without reason it is
ca1led <the fish capital ofRussia>.
There is a great deal of different
kinds ofsturgeon; almost 90ok of
all world fishing is fished out here.
The city market counters are
crammed with fresh, smoked and
dried fish.
Of course. the main delicacy in
Astrakhan is black caviar. No epicure will refuse himself to taste it
here and to take some as a gastronomic souvenir.
The real Volga fish-soup (ukha)
and the sturgeon barbecue are the
pride ofthe local menu. Every cook
keeps a secret offish-soup making.
Besides you will be offered the original Astrakhan dishes: specialty pickle
of the house, aspic, the Kalmyk tea
with lamb fat and fish pies.
Most of the souvenirs. taken
from Astrakhan credit ır'iıh l-ısh subj
ects.
It can be rı ooden or ear1henware
fish statrıettes. dishes ş'itlı <fish>
drarr lngs or bottle of'ı odka in a
form ofsurgeon.
There is a risht :ien here. if
somebody eats the head of a sazan
rightl-v, taking it to pieces. he u,ill
neveı lear'e this place.
You rıill not also ıı_ant to leave
from. But. all in all. our tıip goes
on, and rve are eoıırg to the \\.ondelful places ş,here Vo1ga ends and the
Caspian Sea begins. rı e are eoing to
the delta ofthe great riı_er.
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