Komi Republic: Urals, Taiga and Komi Culture

The Komi Republic brings together the vast taiga, the Urals and a distinct Komi culture. Yugyd Va National Park gives a sense of the scale of this natural area: it covers 1,894,133 hectares and extends across the municipal districts of Inta, Pechora and Vuktyl. Its rivers flow from the western slopes of the Ural Mountains into the Pechora, which empties into the Barents Sea. The park includes the highest peaks of the Subpolar and Northern Urals and lies on their western slopes, on the border between Europe and Asia. Here, mountains and river systems form part of a vast landscape.

Ural Nature and World Heritage

The UNESCO World Heritage Site “Virgin Komi Forests” extends beyond the Komi Republic. Since 1995, Yugyd Va National Park and the Pechora-Ilych Nature Biosphere Reserve to the south have together made up this World Heritage Site. It covers 3.28 million hectares of tundra and mountain tundra in the Urals, as well as one of the largest remaining areas of untouched boreal forest in Europe. The mountainous areas of the national park contain 38 small glaciers. The park also protects around 600 plant species, including 47 rare species and six listed on the International Red List.

Special places in the wider travel area also tell the story of this landscape. The Manpupuner Plateau in the Pechora-Ilych Nature Reserve was recognised as one of the Seven Wonders of Russia in 2008. Its connection to the nature reserve and its historical recognition give the plateau a distinct place alongside the vast forest and mountain landscape. If you are interested in nature and protected areas, these different scales help you appreciate the region’s landscape as more than a single image.

Komi Culture and Local History

In Yb, the Finno-Ugric Ethnocultural Park offers a cultural focus, providing insights into the culture and daily life of 24 related Finno-Ugric peoples, including the Komi. Visitor programmes include activities focused on Komi culture, guided tours of Yb, Finno-Ugric games and workshops. These include baking shangi or listushki in the oven of a traditional Komi house, guided by a Komi housewife. Visitors can also make a musical instrument, fabric dolls as protective amulets and items from woven plant material. It is best to check with the operator in advance to find out which activities are available on your dates.

Yb combines these cultural themes with striking buildings. The Holy Seraphim Monastery stands on a hill in the village, with views from there across the taiga, which stretches for dozens of kilometres. The old stone Holy Ascension Church is also in the village. According to the story associated with it, Catholic prisoners in transit preserved old icons in the 1930s rather than burning them for heating in thirty-degree frost. The story is part of the history associated with the church.

Other special places in Yb include twelve holy springs, five of which have been developed. Different healing effects are attributed to them, and stories are also told of people being healed by their water. A large spruce stands on the site of the former Church of St Paraskeva Pyatnitsa and can shelter around twenty people in the rain. Alongside the area’s broader cultural and landscape themes, details like these give it a very distinctive character.

In Pechora, the focus turns to the town’s history and collections. The Pechora Local History Museum displays exhibits on the Old Believer movement in the Middle Pechora region. Its rare books department presents unique manuscripts and old printed works. The museum regularly organises cultural and historical bus and walking tours of the town, where participants can learn about its history and sights; check the current dates in advance.

Choose a focus for your trip

The themes vary considerably for families planning a trip together: Yb combines Komi culture with tours and creative activities, Pechora focuses on its museum and town history, while the national park showcases the vast natural area of the Urals. If you are looking for a holiday apartment in the Komi Republic, you can choose a location based on what matters most for your trip. This lets you decide during the planning stage whether cultural insights, a town’s history or the landscape of the protected area should be the deciding factor.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Syktyvkar, Syktyvkar, Gorod Ukhta, Ukhta, Yb, Vylgort, Usinsk, Vorkuta, Pechora, Inta, Mikun, Pazhga, Syktyvdinsky District, Troitsko-Pechorsky District.

See the overview for the wider region: Russia.