Today the world lost one of its best residents. I was desperately sorry to know that Luciano Pavarotti died of cancer at the age of 71. Any words would be too few to describe his merits. So let us remember his great personality for he was a legend of our days.

Sokol village, house

Today I present you one more spicemen of houses in Sokol Village. Like others, this house is supposed to be a typical one for one of Russian regions, though I don't know which exactly.

P.S. The gallery of Sokol houses on my extension site.

The bridge

One more photo from Sokol village. If I'm lucky enought I would get a picture of the same bridge when trees turn golden, but for now enjoy this summer view.

Spotted pavement

One more photo from Cokol village. This street is rather typical for small Russian towns.

A few words about 'Dacha'

Yesterday Fabrizio asked me if houses in Sokol village were still used as Dacia (or Dacha in English transcription), but the thing is that those houses never were used as Dacha. So I decided to tell you a little bit about Dacha in general.
Since the end of XIX century (I believe) people went out of city for summer time to stay in country house, of their own or rented. The rest of the year houses stood empty, awaiting for summer residents. So these houses were what we call Dacha.
In Soviet Union idea of Dacha became more and more popular; nearly every townman wanted to have his own house with a garden in the sountryside to spend there his leisure time. There were privileged categories of citizen, such as military officers, scientists, writers and poets, who had a right for a house in special Dacha villages, owned by govement, where house were large and comfortable. Other people were less lucky and had to jostle in tiny huts, often built by owners themselves.
During hard times, Dacha was a source of vegetables and friuts, and many people lived on it. Nowadays, those simple country houses are used for rest from city noise on summer weekends and some spend there vacation.
The photo, though, was taken in Sokol village; this house was never used as Dacha but people live there all year through.

Sokol village

There is a piece of rural life in the north-west part of Moscow called Sokol village. It's also known as Artists' village amonst residents, although few artists lived here. But for some reason all the streets in this block are named after famous Russian artists, that is why the village is Artists'.
It was build in 1923-1931, during NEP (New Economical Policy) time, beyond the city line, and provided home for scientists, teachers, doctors and so on. The village consists of 114 houses, and every one of them is unique. Moreover, every street is planted with peculiar kind of trees - one with lindens, another with ash and so on.
I used to come here often while being a student; these quiet streets are perfect place for secluded meditation.

P.S. Another version on my extension site.