Geography
What is geographical symbol of Russia?
Volga River
Describe a typical witch in Russian fairy tales and give her name.
Baba Yaga; An old woman who flies in a wooden mortar with a broom.
When did the Soviet Union collapse?
December 26, 1991
Who invaded Rus in 1237 (13th century)? Name the exact name.
The head of Mongols' Batu Khan (Genghis Khan’s grandson)
What is the modern-day name of Constantinople?
Istanbul
In which sea is Crimea located as a peninsula?
Black Sea
Name the prominent Russian ethnographer who collected Russian folk tales and folk fairy tales.
Alexander Afanasyev
Which country was never a part of the Soviet Union: Latvia, Georgia, Ukraine, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Bulgaria?
Bulgaria
Who was known as "The Wise" among Kievan Princes? And why?
Yaroslav the Wise
Which script did Cyril and Methodius create BEFORE Cyrillic?
Glagolitic
Slavic worlds
Name all Slavic languages you know and divide them into three specific categories according to geography. (btw what is the place in Eastern Europe which historians consider to be the "homeland" for all Slavs before their split?)
Remove the extra genre and explain why: Oral Epics, Proverbs, Novels, Fairy Tales
Novels (not folklore)
What countries form a South-west block of the former USSR?
Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova
Which of the following cities held the most significance for the Rus in the 11th century? And why?: Washingon, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Novgorod
Kiev (Capital of Kievan Rus)
Who and when "baptized" Rus?
Prince Vladimir the Great. Year: 988 AD
What is the longest river of Russia?
Lena River
Name the main types of Russian Folklore genres.
Byliny (epics) and Skazki (Magic folktales) (equivalent of fairy tales)
Only two other countries apart Russia situated both in Europe and Asia are. Name them.
Kazakhstan and Turkey
Who are Boris and Gleb? What are they famous for?
Vladimir’s son Sviatopolk (the Accursed), allegedly assassinated his brothers Boris and Gleb (1015), first Russian saints.
Who was the first to be baptized in Rus?
Princess Olga (Vladimir's grandmother)
Name the main rivers for Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Moscow River and Neva River
How many supermen were there in Rus? Name them and the author of the famous painting in which they are depicted.
The Three Bogatyrs (Ilya Muromets, Dobrynya Nikitich, Alyosha Popovich); Viktor Vasnetsov
Extra question
Name an interesting fact about the USSR that you learned in the last two weeks of the course.
The Mongols captured Kiev. What city did they fail to capture?
Novgorod
Open Question
Why did the princes of Rus choose Orthodoxy as the main religion?