RUSSIA – it’s official: from January 1, 2021, the e-VISA for Italian citizens is in force

RUSSIA – it’s official: from January 1, 2021, the e-VISA for Italian citizens is in force

Russia Siberia Visti

From January 1st , 2021, citizens of 52 foreign states, including Italy, will be able to enter Russia with an electronic visa.

The tourist visa will be valid for 60 days for a maximum stay of 16 days, both for pleasure and business travel

The simplified procedure is reported (in English) on the website of the Federal Tourist Agency of Russia.

First of all it is necessary to fill in the application form (link) by uploading the digital copy of the passport (with residual validity of 6 months from the date of return and to have 2 free pages for the entry / exit stamps at customs) and a passport photo in digital format, as well as the payment of a fee of USD 40 (children up to 6 years free)

After that, the e-visa will be issued within 4 days, which must be printed and shown at check-in and at the customs office together with the passport.

(currently, for issues related to the restrictions due to Covid-19, the issuance of the electronic visa is suspended, ed.)

According to the site, the Invitation Letter will no longer be required and will be valid throughout the territory of Russia, thus extending in fact when it already happened for Italian citizens for the territories of St. Petersburg and Kaliningrad.

ALTAI (Western Siberia) – The stone idols

ALTAI (Western Siberia) – The stone idols

Regione dell'Altai Siberia

The Altai researchers of the 18th-19th centuries often mentioned kurgan stelae they discovered called balbals or idols. Many of them had mongoloid faces carved into the stone. The discovered burial enclosures and kurgans were called “Chud graves” after the widespread legend of an ancient tribe of Chud. Later, mysterious rock inscriptions were found carved in thin lines with a pointed tool. Other objects were also discovered including iron-melting furnaces. It has taken time to study the mentioned sites in detail and attribute them to one common archaeological culture referred to as the Turkic Culture.

In the mid-first millenium AD, there were several developments in Altai that dramatically changed the course of history of the Eurasian continent. In 460 AD, “500 Ashina families” have been forcibly resettled from East Turkestan to the Altai Mountains. The families possessed a secret of iron production. Legend has it that the tribe was broken by their neighbors. Only one boy survived who had his legs cut off. A female wolf saved and nursed him to health. Impregnant by the boy and retreating in a cave, the wolf gave birth to ten sons. One of these was Ashina, a mighty and gallant warrior. His descendants came to Altai and managed to unite the locals to become the core of a new ethno-cultural group calling themselves “Turkic” people.

The Turkic people were mostly warriors. Skilled blacksmiths, they produced weaponry and armor gaining an advantage over their enemies.

The Turkic people were the first people in Siberia to develop and widely use writing (the 7th century AD). Similar to the Nordic one, the script was called runic. More than 90 runic texts were found in Altai.

 

Credit: Pavel Filatov ph.

West SIBERIA – The Altai Republic

West SIBERIA – The Altai Republic

Regione dell'Altai Siberia

Russia, the largest country in the world, retains in some remote regions a charm of the past and something mysterious and surprising. Asian Russia has always attracted explorers and adventurers and still today is not a destination for mass tourism, despite offering countless opportunities, including discovering the different native populations or several protected national parks or world heritage sites of the UNESCO.

The Altay Mountains – and in general the whole territory of the homonymous Republic – are a jewel of nature, a sort of shangrli-la from Central Asia, a destination for eco-sustainable tourism and for travelers looking for unique and rare experiences.

The landscape of this region that ranges from the steppe to the taiga, from the glaciers to the semi-desert and is characterized by more than 7000 between lakes, rushing rivers, is the perfect setting for fabulous excursions, sports activities such as rafting or trekking or more simply for those who love to photograph pristine territories.