Road of Life

Swedish overseas colonies (Swedish: Svenska utomeuropeiska kolonier) consisted of the overseas colonies controlled by Sweden. Sweden possessed overseas colonies from 1638 to 1663, in 1733 and from 1784 to 1878. Sweden possessed five colonies, four of which were short lived. The colonies spanned three continents: Africa, Asia and North America.

The Principality of Murom was a medieval Rus' lordship based on the city of Murom, now in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. Murom lay in an area that was strongly Finnic and for much of its medieval history, located in the homeland of the Muromians. It appears to have been an important Finnic settlement in the ninth-century, with an archaeologically noticeable Scandinavian presence from the tenth-century, as evidenced by Frankish swords, a tortoiseshell brooch and a sword chape.The Primary Chronicle alleges that Murom came under Rus' control in the eighth-century. Gleb Vladimirovich, son of Vladimir the Great, ruled the principality in the early eleventh-century. Murom was part of the territory of the Principality of Chernigov in the late eleventh-century, controlled by the Sviatoslavichi clan, the descendants of Iaroslav the Wise; probably it was retained by Vsevolod Iaroslavich even after this Prince of Chernigov became Grand Prince in 1076.Oleg Sviatoslavich, grandson of Iaroslav and Prince of Chernigov, ruled Murom through a posadnik in the early 1090s, and it was recognised as Oleg's sphere of influence at the Liubech Conference of 1097. Here Oleg's brother Davyd was made co-ruler of Chernigov, and Oleg's lands were parcelled out between Oleg, Davyd and their brother Iaroslav; the latter obtained Murom with Ryazan.Murom appears to have been destroyed or at least devastated by the Mongol Invasion of Rus' in 1237-8. Khan Batu came to the frontier of Ryazan in the winter of 1237, and demanded tribute from the princes of Ryazan, Murom and Pronsk. This was rejected, and devastation of these lands followed. After 1239, the princes of Murom disappear for nearly a century.In 1392 Vasily Dmitr'evich, Prince of Moscow and Grand Prince of Vladimir, obtained a patent from Khan Tokhtamysh authorising the annexation of the Murom principality, along with the principalities of Nizhni Novgorod and Gorodets.

The Principality of Novgorod-Seversk was a medieval Rus' principality centered on the town now called Novhorod-Siverskyi. The principality was aligned to the Principality of Chernigov. It may have been created in 1139, the date of one modern authority. In 1185, a large Rus'ian campaign against the Polovtsy ended in defeat for Prince Igor, famously recorded in The Tale of Igor's Campaign. The principality was taken by the principality of Briansk after the Mongol invasions, and then by the Lithuanians when the power of the Golden Horde began to decline. In the fifteenth-century the principality was given to Prince Ivan of Mozhaisk when he fled from Grand Prince Vasily II.

Municipal Okrug 78 (Russian: муниципа́льный о́круг № 78) is a municipal okrug of Tsentralny District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Population: 11,186 (2010 Census); 13,508 (2002 Census).The okrug borders Nevsky Avenue in the northeast, the Fontanka River in the south, and Gorokhovaya Street in the west. Places of interest include the Kazan Cathedral, the Merchant Court, the Apraksin Dvor, the Alexandrinsky Theatre, and the Saint Petersburg City Duma.

Gostiny Dvor (Russian: Гости́ный двор) is a station on the Nevsko–Vasileostrovskaya Line of the Saint Petersburg Metro. It was designed by architect C.G. Mayofis, E.S. Belyat, A.K. Andreyev, Ya.E. Moskalenko and C.P Schyukin and opened on November 3, 1967. It has two exits - one at the intersection between the Griboyedov Canal and Nevsky Prospect and another inside the northern side of the Gostinyi Dvor mall. The latter exit has an entrance that allows the commuters to enter the mall directly. The station also linked to the Nevsky Prospekt metro station via a transfer corridor and a set of escalators. The station is the busiest station on the line and one of the busiest stations in the entire St. Petersburg Metro.

The Komissarzhevskaya Theatre (Russian: Академический драматический театр имени В. Ф. Комиссаржевской) is a theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is named after Vera Komissarzhevskaya.

Great Gostiny Dvor (Russian: Большой Гостиный Двор) is a vast department store on Nevsky Avenue in St Petersburg. This Gostiny Dvor is not only the city's oldest shopping centre, but also one of the first shopping arcades in the world. Sprawling at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and Sadovaya Street for over one kilometer and embracing the area of 53,000 m2 (570,000 sq ft), the indoor complex of more than 100 shops took twenty-eight years to construct. Building works commenced in 1757 to an elaborate design by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, but that subsequently was discarded in favour of a less expensive and more functional Neoclassical design submitted by Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe (1729–1800). Throughout the following century, Gostiny Dvor was continuously augmented, resulting in ten indoor streets and as many as 178 shops by the 20th century. By that time, the Gostiny Dvor had lost its popularity to the more fashionable Passage and New Passage, situated on the Nevsky Prospekt nearby. During the post-World War II reconstructions, its inner walls were demolished and a huge shopping mall came into being. This massive 18th-century structure received a face-lift and entered the 21st century as one of the most fashionable shopping centres in Eastern Europe. A nearby station of Saint Petersburg Metro takes its name from Gostiny Dvor.

St. Catherine's Armenian Church (Russian: Армянская церковь Святой Екатерины, Armyanskaya tserkov Svyatoy Yekaterini; Armenian: Սուրբ Կատարինե եկեղեցի, Surb Katarine yekeghetsi) is an Armenian Apostolic church on Nevsky Prospect, in central Saint Petersburg, Russia. Built in the 1770s, it is one of the earliest Armenian churches in Russia.

The National Library of Russia (NLR, Russian: Российская национальная библиотека), located in Saint Petersburg, is the first national public library in Russia. The NLR is currently ranked among the world’s major libraries. It has the second biggest library collection in the Russian Federation, a treasury of national heritage, and is the All-Russian Information, Research and Cultural Center. Over the course of its history, the Library has aimed for comprehensive acquisition of the national printed output and has provided free access to its collections. It should not be confused with the Russian State Library, located in Moscow. It is known as the Imperial Public Library from 1795 to 1917; Russian Public Library from 1917 to 1925; State Public Library from 1925 to 1992 (since 1932 named after M.Y. Saltykov-Shchedrin); NLR.

The Vorontsov Palace (Russian: Воронцо́вский дворе́ц) is a Baroque palace compound which occupies a large parcel of land located between Sadovaya Street and the Fontanka River in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The palace of 50 rooms was built at enormous expense by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov, Empress Elizabeth's chancellor and maternal relative by marriage. The palace took eight years to build, starting in 1749. After his niece Elizaveta Vorontsova fell from grace, Vorontsov was effectively exiled from the court and sold his main residence to the crown. Paul I of Russia gave the palace to the Knights Hospitaller, of which he was Grand Master. Another Italian architect working in Russia, Giacomo Quarenghi, was then asked to modernise the palace. In 1798–1800, Quarenghi added a Catholic chapel to serve exiled French aristocrats who resided in the Russian capital at the turn of the 19th century (see Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller for details). Since 1810, the Vorontsov Palace has housed a succession of exclusive military schools, including the famous Page Corps (1810–1918) and the Suvorov Military School (1955–present). The palace is screened from Sadovaya Street by an elaborate cast iron grille, and it is separated from the Fontanka Embankment by a large garden. The Chapel of the Order of Malta went through extensive restoration in 2003 and is currently used for organ recitals.

The Passage, from the French word passage, is an élite department store on Nevsky Avenue in Saint Petersburg, Russia, which was founded in 1848. The Passage premises have long had associations with the entertainment industry and houses the Komissarzhevskaya Theatre.

Saint Petersburg Philharmonia (Russian: Санкт-Петербургская филармония) is a music society located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and is the name of the building where it is housed. Also there is another one building of Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Society: Malii Zal (Small Hall). The location of the Small Hall is in the city centre. The society now hosts two symphony orchestras: Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Saint Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra.