Russian Orthodox Church

Coordinates: 55°42′40″N 37°37′45″E / 55.71111°N 37.62917°E / 55.71111; 37.62917

The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; Russian: РуÌ?Ñ?Ñ?каÑ? правоÑ?лаÌ?внаÑ? цеÌ?рковь, tr. Rússkaya Pravoslávnaya Tsérkov), alternatively legally known as the Moscow Patriarchate (Russian: МоÑ?коÌ?вÑ?кий ПатриархаÌ?Ñ‚, tr. Moskóvskiy Patriarkhát), is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches, in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox patriarchates. The Primate of the ROC is the Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus'. The ROC, as well as the primate thereof, officially ranks fifth in the Orthodox order of precedence, immediately below the four ancient Patriarchates of the Greek Orthodox Church, those of Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. The official Christianization of Kievan Rus' widely seen as the birth of the ROC is believed to have occurred in 988 through the baptism of the Kievan prince Vladimir and his people by the clergy of the Ecumenical Patriarchate whose constituent part the ROC remained for the next six centuries, while the Kievan see remained in the jurisdiction of the Ecumenical Patriarchate until 1686.

Eastern Orthodox Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, also referred to as the Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Orthodoxy, is the second largest Christian Church in the world, with an estimated 225–300 million adherents.

The Eastern Orthodox Church is one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, teaching that it is the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church established by Jesus Christ in his Great Commission to the apostles, and practicing what it understands to be the original faith passed down from the Apostles.

United in communion with the Latin Church before the East–West Schism in 1054, and with the Oriental churches for the first quarter of its history, Eastern Orthodoxy spread throughout the Roman and later Byzantine Empires and beyond, playing a prominent role in European, Near Eastern, Slavic, and some African cultures. Its most prominent episcopal see is Constantinople.

Eastern Orthodoxy has no Papacy or similar authority, but instead teaches that all bishops are equal by virtue of their ordination, and each autocephalous church is typically governed by a Holy Synod. This is one of the main reasons for the division between the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. The commonly-used but unofficial designation "Eastern" derives from the geographical location of the main centers of Orthodoxy in relation to the "Western" churches (now known as the Roman Catholic Church), and from Constantinople being the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

Eastern Orthodox church architecture

An Orthodox church as a church building of Eastern Orthodoxy has a distinct, recognizable family of styles among church architectures. Commonly influenced by the legacy of the Eastern Roman Empire and Byzantine architecture each autocephalous Orthodox church has developed its own building traditions and church architecture styles, that share a cluster of fundamental similarities.

History

While sharing many traditions, East and West in Christianity began to diverge from each other from an early date. Whereas the basilica, a long aisled hall with an apse at one end, was the most common form in the West, a more compact centralised style became predominant in the East. These churches were in origin 'martyria' focused on the tombs of the saints—specifically, the martyrs who had died during the persecutions, which only fully ended with the conversion of the Emperor Constantine. They copied pagan tombs and were roofed over by a dome which symbolised heaven. The central dome was then often surrounded by structures at the four points of the compass producing a cruciform shape - these were themselves often topped by towers or domes. The centralised and basilica structures were sometimes combined as in the church of Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. The basilican east end then allowed for the erection of an iconostasis, a screen on which icons are hung and which conceals the altar from the worshippers except at those points in the liturgy when its doors are opened.

Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia

The Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia (Russian: РуÌ?Ñ?Ñ?каÑ? ПравоÑ?лаÌ?внаÑ? ЦеÌ?рковь ЗаграниÌ?цей, Russkaya Pravoslavnaya Tserkov' Zagranitsey), also called the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, ROCA, or ROCOR, is a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church.

ROCOR was formed as a jurisdiction of Eastern Orthodoxy as a response against the policy of the Bolsheviks with respect to religion in the Soviet Union soon after the Russian Revolution of 1917. It separated from the Russian Church of the Moscow Patriarchate in 1927 after the imprisoned Metropolitan Sergius (Stragorodsky) pledged the Church's qualified loyalty to the Bolshevik state.

After decades of separation, the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia officially signed the Act of Canonical Communion with the Moscow Patriarchate on May 17, 2007, restoring the canonical link between the churches.

The Church has around 400 parishes worldwide, and an estimated membership of over 400,000 people. Of these, 138 parishes and 10 monasteries are in the United States, with 27,700 adherents and 9,000 regular church attendees. ROCOR has 13 hierarchs, with monasteries and nunneries in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe and South America.

Russia-1

Russia-1 (Russian: РоÑ?Ñ?иÑ?-1) is a state-owned Russian television channel founded in 1991. It belongs to the All-Russia State Television and Radio Company (VGTRK). Russia Channel was previously known as RTR (Russian: РТР). Russia-1 has the second largest audience in Russian television. In a typical week, it is viewed by 75% of urban Russians, compared to 83% for the leading channel, Channel One. The two channels are similar in their politics, and they compete directly in entertainment. Russia-1 has many regional variations and broadcasts in many languages.

History

Soviet period

Russia-1 had started in 1965 as Program 3 in the Soviet Union and moved to Channel 2 in 1967 when a new channel, Program 4 (now known as NTV), was officially launched and the Moscow Program, which started in 1956, was transferred to Channel 3. From the very start, it only hosted programs produced by the Ministry of Education of the Soviet Union, as well as children's programming, in monochrome. The move to a new channel frequency resulted in it being renamed Program 2 and becoming the second home of the national newscast Vremya since 1968.

Russian wine

Russian wine refers to wine made in the Russian Federation and to some extent wines made in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics though this later referencing is an inaccurate representation of wines from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine. The phrase Russian wine more properly refers to wine made in the southern part of the Russian Federation-including the areas around Dagestan, Chechnya, Kabardino-Balkaria, Krasnodar Krai, Rostov, and Stavropol Krai. Russia currently has the following controlled appellations that correspond to the sorts of grapes: Sibirkovy (Сибирьковый), Tsimlyanski Cherny (ЦимлÑ?нÑ?кий чёрный), Plechistik (ПлечиÑ?тик),Narma (Ð?арма), and Güliabi Dagestanski (ГюлÑ?би ДагеÑ?танÑ?кий).

History

Wild grape vines have grown around the Caspian, Black and Azov seas for thousands of years with evidence of viticulture and cultivation for trade with the Ancient Greeks found along the shores of the Black Sea at Phanagoria and Gorgippia. It is claimed that the Black Sea area is the world's oldest wine region.

Belarus

Coordinates: 53°N 23°E / 53°N 23°E / 53; 23

Belarus (ⁱ/bÉ›ləˈruË?s/ bel-É™-ROOSS; Belarusian: БеларуÌ?Ñ?ÑŒ, tr. BielaruÅ›, IPA: [bʲɛlaˈrusʲ]; Russian: БелоруÑ?Ñ?иÑ?, tr. Byelorussiya; IPA: [bʲɪloˈrussɪʲÉ?]), officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Hrodna (Grodno), Homiel (Gomel), MahilioÅ­ (Mogilev) and Vitsebsk (Vitebsk). Over 40% of its 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) is forested. Its strongest economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing.

Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus: for example: the Principality of Polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People's Republic, succeeded by the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia, which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR). Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish-Soviet war of 1919-1921. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939 when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland and were finalized after World War II. During World War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 Belarus became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR.