Kalmykia is a small autonomous republic in the South of Russia, on the eastern shores of the Caspian sea. It’s totally flat and windy, made of steppes and inhabited by Kalmyks, who are the descendants of Chengiz Khan’s gang – the Mongols. The population is predominantly Buddhist, the culture being a curious mix between Mongol, Turkish and Russian Cossack.
Folklore danse and songs:
Kalmyks are world-famous for their chess-players, believe it or not. The one-time president of Kalmykia is actually now the president of the World Chess Federation and sits in Lausanne, Switzerland! ))). This is the City Chess (sic!) that he built several years ago for a world chess tournament and that is used now as a museum of chess (in the middle of nowhere literally) and children’s chess school and camp:
The Buddhist monastery and temple in the middle of Kalmykia’s capital, Elista:
A deeply touching monument to the victims of the tragic deportation of Kalmyks into Siberia by Stalin. The monument is really overwhelming, created by the Russian sculptor Ernst Neizvestny, who came to Kalmykia for several years to listen to the survivors’ stories before creating the sculpture:
Some views of Elista:
A sacred Buddhist tree in the middle of the Kalmyk steppe:
The monument to the Krasnoarmeets, a soldier of the Revolutionary Red Army, in Stavropol, a Russian large city not far from Kalmykia. The larger-than-life towering metal terminator seems to be of especial relevance in the days of Crimea and Donetsk:
