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Rural life in Koptelovo village

Those who are planning to visit the Urals should also visit Singing Babushkas and other inhabitants of Koptelovo. It's a village-museum 135 km north-east to Yekaterinburg. Surprisingly enough the life of the remote village hasn't changed much since last centuries. Of course the villagers drive their Lada cars now and have satellite TV but they still for example don't care much about mobile phones, refer to the Americans as enemies of the cold war (don't worry my US friends, it doesn't go further than the reference as many Americans have already been there and were treated very kindly!) The people of Koptelovo speak in a very distinct local dialect, which I as a linguist was particularly interested in.  Plus the stunning nature of the North-East...

Koptelovo village was built on the Rezh river in 1663. Those days rivers were the only way to get to the Urals as there were no roads. People travelled through the Arctic seas then down the rivers of the Northern Urals

The vast lands of the area make it possible to live on farming. Although the Urals is called a territory of risky farming, this area is good enough to grow wheat and...cucumbers. Very large cucumbers, they say!

Another church partly destroyed bu the Bolsheviks still waits for its investor. However, I like it as it is now

Tourists are welcome to visit Baba Katya's izba. She was the last owner of the house built 300 years ago and was the 18th member of the family in 30 square metres

You can go inside the izba and satisfy you curiosity as to how 18 people fitted in at once.

A wooden box on the stool in the middle is for a bay

Only elderly people had a privilege to sleep on a warm pechka. The others slept on wooden berths or on the floor.

The director of the local museum, a former school teacher, will tell you how young girls used to dress in order to get married asap. Kokoshnik (a dome-like head accessory) meant the girl was rich and had better chances. Interestingly, girls were considered worth marrying from 16 to 25, at the age of 26 they became old maids. Obviously the Ural people had less strict rules than my Belarusian grandmother. I was a hopeless case for her already at 22.

And of course the highlight of the journey to Koptelovo village - Singing Babushkas! Enjoy...

By the way, their band is called The Restless!

see more pictures of Koptelovo village:

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