Commander Islands: interesting facts and places to relax. Commander Islands: wiki: Facts about Russia Name of 4 large Commander Islands

Russia is amazing not only for its world-famous beauties and monuments. The main asset of our country is its endless open spaces, the opportunity to travel in places where there are no crowds of tourists. One of these remote corners is the Commander Islands. It’s quite difficult to find them on the map, and you can only get here from Kamchatka, on a small plane that flies once a week, and even then only in case of good weather, which rarely happens here. And yet, despite all the difficulties, this region is worth seeing!

Commander Islands: geographical location

The Commanders are located off the eastern coast of Kamchatka in the Bering Sea; in a geological sense, they are a continuation of the Archipelago. The archipelago formally consists of a large number of land areas surrounded by water, but only four of them can be fully called islands: Medny, Beringa, Ariy Kamen and Toporkov. Otherwise, the Commander Islands are rocks sticking out of the water (they are also called stones), unsuitable for human life. There are ten such stones in total, but these are only those that have their own names, because in the adjacent waters there are dozens more nameless cliffs. The relief of the Commanders is mostly mountainous, with minor flat areas and very sparse vegetation characteristic of tundra areas. But there are also small fresh rivers and lakes, berries and cereals grow here.

Climatic features

Since the archipelago is located in the cold Bering Sea, the weather here is very capricious and harsh. It’s not for nothing that the Commander Islands are called the land of winds and fogs! The climate in the region is rainy and windy, and the weather can change several times a day and differ from island to island. Summers are usually cool, up to 15 degrees Celsius (over the entire period of observation, the maximum temperature value was 24 degrees), winters are cold, with temperatures down to -24 degrees, which, together with the piercing wind blowing from the Pacific Ocean, creates very difficult conditions for local residents . Despite this weather, the ocean does not freeze in winter.

Commander Islands attractions

Commanders is not at all the place where you can come to look at city life. There is only one settlement on the archipelago - the village of Nikolskoye, and the population of all the islands does not reach even a thousand people. But we can say with confidence that these places are a natural storehouse. There are no large centers here, industry is not developed, and people coexist peacefully with nature. Back in 1993, a biosphere reserve was opened on the archipelago, and today it has about four hundred species and forty subspecies of vascular plants. Unique endemic species of fish, birds and animals are also found here.

Ethnographic objects

The Commander Islands also have a number of historical attractions. It was here, at Cape Commander, that the ship “St. Peter” of the Kamchatka expedition, led by the famous associate of Emperor Peter the Great, Vitus Bering, anchored. According to the ruler’s idea, he had to find an isthmus or strait, which was the natural border of two continents. The ship's crew was forced to stay here for nine long months and fight for survival all this time. Vitus Bering himself could not withstand the adversity - he was buried on one of the islands. Later, a subsequent expedition found the grave, a memorial cross was installed on it, and a piece of land was named after the famous traveler and captain. It is worth warning those who are planning to come to the Commander Islands and want to see in person the grave of a Dane who served the Russian sovereign that the memorial can easily be confused with an ordinary memorial cross installed nearby.

What else interesting in terms of history are hidden in the Commander Islands? Vacationers are invited to explore the houses that were built by American sailors at the beginning of the 20th century. They, like Russian sailors, came to these places for fish and sea animals, because sea otters, seals, and whales pass here every year, so there is something to profit from.

Flora and fauna

Every year the Commander Islands become the object of ornithological expeditions. The fact is that dozens of species of seabirds nest on the archipelago, and certain species of marine mammals also set up rookeries and raise their offspring. A variety of representatives of birds flock to the islands, and their hubbub spreads across the surface of the ocean for hundreds of meters around. There are unique ones here: the Commander's Arctic fox, Aleutian tern, pulmonary lobaria, and others. The most striking (in every sense of the word) representatives of the local fauna are rightfully puffin puffins, also called commanding parrots. Against the backdrop of dull landscapes, their colors are especially bright. In honor of these birds, one of the largest islands in the archipelago was named Toporkov.

Types of tourism

The village of Nikolskoye is the “capital” of the Commanders and, as already noted, the only populated area on the archipelago. This is the place where the Aleuts live compactly - the people who settled the Commander Islands even before the arrival of the Russians. Tourism here is aimed specifically at studying the native traditions and life of the indigenous people, although they had long ago (at the beginning of the 19th century) adopted Russian culture and Orthodoxy. Nikolskoye hosts performances for visitors: Aleuts dress in national clothes made from skins and play musical instruments made from animal body parts. Everyone can try on beads made from shells, look at the hunting tools and household items of the islanders.

Vanishing culture

Modern commanders live in exactly the same way as their ancestors - by fur and sea fishing. But, unfortunately, a sad trend has recently been noticed: the number of speakers of the Aleut language decreases naturally every year, traditions are lost and replaced by modern ones, the local population ceases to pass on the folklore treasures of their people to younger generations. Therefore, you should hurry to visit the Commander Islands in order to still have time to experience the real native island culture.

Aleutian Museum of Local Lore

This is the main center of scientific life of the archipelago. Here is one of the eleven remaining skeletons of a sea cow in the world, which lived on the Commanders before they became a fishing ground: the animals were exterminated literally within forty years. They did not have the means to fight for existence, and therefore could not survive. According to various expeditions, they weighed up to two hundred pounds, and their body length reached nine meters.

S. Pasenyuk Art Museum

In Nikolskoye there is a private museum on the Far East - Sergei Pasenyuk. All sorts of exhibits from the places he visited are collected here. On all souvenirs and printed products dedicated to the Commanders, you can see sketches and photographs by Pasenyuk, demonstrating either a signpost with a seal skull at the top - a symbol of the islands; that statue “Running on the Waves,” depicting an angel who brings light to ships at sea.

Hard to Find Commanders

What else can you do while traveling through the archipelago besides contemplating the mesmerizing beauty of the ocean and wildlife? This question is difficult to answer. There are no other holiday options on the Commander Islands. Here you are unlikely to be able to get acquainted with exotic and colorful cuisine, because all products are imported from Kamchatka. The most you can count on is to buy a few kilograms of red caviar or the meat of some pinniped animal at a relatively low price. There is also no basic tourist infrastructure on the archipelago, so visitors do not stay here for more than one or two days. Travelers live either in self-brought tents or in dilapidated houses. The Commander Islands are a border zone, this should not be forgotten. There is a fairly strict access regime here. In addition, this is mostly a nature reserve, so boats and vessels are not allowed here without permission. So diving won't work either. And the weather, I must say, is not favorable.

Finally

Commanders is a place for those who are attracted by truly wild nature without any civilization around. These are inhospitable and inaccessible islands, but they are still beautiful! The seething ocean, rolling onto the rocks with its mighty waves; thousands of birds and sea animals - all this allows desperate wanderers to feel like Robinsons, real pioneers. Undoubtedly, a trip to the Commander Islands will remain in the memory of everyone who spent at least a few hours here for the rest of their lives.

Russia is a huge country that surprises everyone not only with its diverse natural beauties, but also with a large number of different attractions. The main assets of this country most often include its vast expanses; one of the most interesting places within the country is the Commander Islands.

Yes, this is by no means a standard vacation: beach, sea, and all-inclusive. Rather, a trip to the Commander Islands is for those who crave something unusual, the most vivid impressions, both from the trip itself and from the inspection. From the article you will learn about holidays on the Commander Islands: how to get there and what to see? Perhaps, after reading about this stunning corner of our country, you will want to go there in 2019.

Brief historical background

The first European travelers reached the Commander Islands not so long ago by the standards of universal history: in the 18th century. These were members of Russian expeditions to Kamchatka, they were shipwrecked there. The main island of the archipelago was named in honor of the expedition commander, Vitus Bering. Bering himself died during this journey, but part of his team began exploring new territories, which was subsequently continued by other scientists.

Subsequently, not only researchers, but also businessmen appeared on the islands: thanks to the rich wildlife, various crafts developed here. Aleuts appeared on the islands, whom the combined forces of Russian and American businessmen imported as workers.

After the transfer of Alaska, oddly enough, the Commander Islands remained part of Russia. Many years passed before humanity reached the understanding that rare animals should not be exterminated uncontrollably, but should be preserved and the population size controlled. Currently, fisheries on the islands are still part of the activity, however, nature reserves have also been created, and the islands are no longer visited by discoverers or businessmen, but by tourists who want to visit an unusual place and see a completely different, protected world.

Brief geographical information and climate

The islands are located on the eastern side of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Due to the fact that these land areas are located in the northern part of the cold Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean, the climate on their territory is quite changeable and very harsh. Therefore, you can often hear that the Commanders are the land of “fog and wind.” It rains there very often and strong winds blow. Weather conditions on one island may differ significantly from weather conditions on another, and the weather tends to change several times during the day.

In winter on the islands, the average temperature on the islands is five degrees below zero, but can drop to twenty degrees below zero, and in summer the average thermometer reading is ten degrees above zero. It is better, of course, to go to the islands in the summer. The islands are not places where you can see the usual city life, since the only populated area on the archipelago is a village called Nikolskoye. It is home to less than 1,000 people - Russians and Aleuts.

Commander Islands on the map

Planning a trip to the Commander Islands: transport, accommodation, permission

How to get there?

For tourists wishing to get to the Commander Islands, this will not be so easy, since the small plane that transports travelers there flies only once a week, and one of the important conditions is the presence of good weather. However, the presence of all these difficulties has never stopped tourists from other cities and countries, and those people who have visited the Commander Islands at least once believe that every person should see this amazing land.

Firstly, there are specially organized tours to the Commander Islands. The cost of such offers is quite high for tours in Russia. So, you can book a 12-day summer tour to the Commander Islands for about 150,000 rubles. However, this amount will include:

• accommodation in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky;
• transfer to the village of Nikolskoye and all other movements;
• nutrition;
• excursions;
• rental of necessary equipment;
• medical insurance;
• all necessary permissions from the authorities.

When purchasing a tour to Commanders, air tickets to Kamchatka will have to be paid separately.

It must be said that the guides’ suggestions in this case are very justified: after all, if the tourist is not prepared and has not made such trips, it may even be dangerous for him to make such a trip without a guide.

But since there are also those who have already traveled on fairly stressful trips, you need to know how you can get to the Commander Islands on your own. You need to buy an air ticket to the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. The cost of a ticket from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in August will be approximately 25,000 rubles (one way per person).

In three hours from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky or Ust-Kamchatsk by plane you can reach the village of Nikolskoye, which is located 4 kilometers from the airport. You will have to get acquainted with the website of the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky airport in advance to understand when the plane will take off.

Another option is a trip by sea. From the seaport of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to the Commander Islands, tourists are delivered by the motor ship "Vasily Zavoiko", the travel time will be at least thirty-six hours (depending on weather conditions, it may increase).

Where to stay?

Planning an independent trip to the Commander Islands will be difficult also because numerous hotels, inns and other delights do not await tourists there. No, in this corner of wild nature there is only one settlement - the village of Nikolskoye, where the only Vitus Bering hotel was opened just a couple of years ago.

In principle, you can try to find local residents in advance by correspondence and agree to rent a corner for a certain time. However, what you need to know is that to thoroughly explore all corners of the islands, you will have to spend the night in camping conditions. To do this, you must either be part of an organized group, or be a very, very prepared and experienced tourist.

Permission to visit

A fairly large part of the islands is occupied by the Komandorsky State Natural Biosphere Reserve. In order to simply be on its territory, you must obtain special permission from the administration. Tourist groups who book a tour to the islands receive this permit among other paid services, but you can also obtain it yourself.

Tourists need permission to visit the territory for the purpose of educational ecotourism; they will also need to obtain paper separately for photo and video shooting. To obtain such permission, it is necessary to contact the administration of the reserve through official contacts in advance, even before making a trip.

Sights of the Commander Islands

So, the tourist overcame all obstacles. What awaits brave travelers on the Commander Islands?

It must be said that the village of Nikolskoye is the only stronghold of civilization among wild nature. But the stronghold is very modest: there are shops, a hospital, a bank, as well as the Aleutian Museum of Local Lore. The latter is definitely worth a look: learn more about the history of the discovery of the islands, travelers, Vitus Bering, the further history of this region, the Aleuts, the nature of the islands.

The anchored ship of the Second Kamchatka Expedition under the leadership of the main associate of the ruler of the Russian Empire, Vitus Bering, is considered a historical landmark of the islands. Also on the islands there is a reconstructed site of that same expedition, as well as the grave of the great explorer himself.

But the most important thing about the Commander Islands is their nature.

Today, the reserve is home to more than four hundred species and about forty subspecies of plants. They tend to be located on the so-called border of the natural zone of western and eastern flora and fauna.

So, on the islands you can see stunning rookeries of fur seals - these cute and beautiful animals live their lives on the shore, and tourists should only quietly observe and, with permission, take photographs. In addition to fur seals, tourists on the Commander Islands can expect, among others:

• humpback whales;
• sperm whales;
• porpoises;
• arctic foxes;
• Birds, fish, invertebrates abound.

Tourists usually do not miss the opportunity to visit local bays. The most famous of them are Podutesnaya and Poludennaya bays. In addition to the most interesting relief and landscape, in Podutesnaya you can admire the vibrant northern flora, waterfalls, an abundance of birds and fish, as well as sea lions, sea otters, and anturs. There is a station in Poludennaya Bay where scientists observe such powerful animals as whales and killer whales. An interesting place on the islands is the Steller Arch, a natural monument of unusual shape, named after the famous naturalist Georg Steller.

Medny Island will delight lovers of landscapes - the rocks on it are lushly overgrown with grass, the island is rich in grottoes and hills, gorges and waterfalls and is generally considered the most picturesque of the entire island group of the Commander Islands. The islands of Ariy Kamen and Toporkov are home to a very large bird colony: puffin puffins, puffins, cormorants and other birds of local latitudes.

Features of traveling to the Commander Islands

You must immediately understand that such a journey will not be easy in any case. You will have to spend a lot of effort and money both on its planning and implementation. It is necessary to take into account all the nuances: how to get there (purchase tickets in advance, but be prepared for the fact that, for example, due to weather conditions you will have to stay on the islands); where and how to live; be sure to take care of communications and carefully collect everything necessary, but not unnecessary; check your health and have the necessary medications with you.

Of course, the islands are currently inhabited by scientists, reserve workers, and villagers from Nikolskoye, so they cannot be called completely uninhabited, yet this is not a trip to the desert where there is not a soul. In the village you can easily buy food and spend the night; local residents and reserve staff are usually friendly to inquisitive and polite tourists; a big advantage is that this is Russia, which means there will be no language problems. But if you have planned a trip to the Commander Islands, you must immediately understand that such a trip is not carried out for the sake of relaxation in comfort, but for the sake of knowledge, acquaintance with wild nature, and in some ways, even overcoming oneself.

However, if you decide to go on a trip to the Commander Islands, you will not regret it. After all, no other place will give you such pure impressions of pristine and exotic northern nature!

Commander Islands- an archipelago of four islands in the southwestern part of the Bering Sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean. Administratively they are part of the Aleutian region of the Kamchatka Territory of Russia. The islands are named after the navigator Commander Bering Vitus Bering who discovered them in 1741. The Commander Islands are a place of mixture of Russian and Aleutian cultures. They have huge potential for the development of northern tourism.

Commander Islands Map

90 miles northeast of Kamchatka are the Commander Islands, part of the Aleutian chain. The islands include: the largest - Beringa, slightly smaller ones - Medny and two very small ones - Toporkov and Ariy Kamen. The nearest islands of the Aleutian chain are located 190 miles to the east, well, this is already US territory.

History of discovery

On the map of Russia, east of Kamchatka at the latitude of Moscow, two small points with the name “Commander Islands” are marked in the Pacific Ocean. These islands were discovered in 1741 by the expedition of the outstanding Russian navigator Commander Vitus Bering, in whose honor they received their name.

Commanders are actually two large islands, Bering and Medny, separated by a strait. Only in the northern part of Bering Island, where the only village of Nikolskoye is located, is the relief more or less smoothed out, with gentle hills, wide valleys and large lakes.

The Second Expedition lasted 10 years. Most of this period was painful for Bering: a sailor, a commander, he had to sit side by side, either in Yakutsk or in Okhotsk - quarreling with local officials, fighting off their denunciations, stopping attempts to pinch off expeditionary supplies: Bering supported the actions of numerous detachments of his expedition , he understood that he would cope with this task better than others, but could not come to terms with the fact that he was sending others on dangerous routes. He will lead the last voyage himself. "St. Peter" and "St. Paul", two packet boats built at the Okhotsk shipyard under his command, are ready for the voyage. There will be a trip to the east, to the shores of America, and to the north, to the strait. But first, it is necessary to clarify, according to the instructions of the Senate, the coordinates of the land of Juan de Gama, which lies southeast of Kamchatka.

On June 4, 1741, from the Kamchatka harbor of the "Holy Apostles Peter and Paul" the packet boats "St. Peter" under the command of the head of the second Kamchatka expedition, captain-commander Vitus Jonassen Bering, and "St. Paul" under the command of fleet captain Alexei Ilyich set out for the unknown shores of America. Chirikov. Chirikov was the first to reach America on July 15, but a tragic incident confused all his further plans: the only two boats sent to the shore in Takhanys Bay did not return and the fate of 15 Russian sailors remains unknown to this day. On the way back, Chirikov discovered a number of islands in the Aleutian ridge and on October 9 entered his native Avacha Bay. His voyage is assessed as a triumph of Russian maritime art.

Bering saw America a day and a half later, approached the island, gave it the name St. Elijah (now Kayak Island), allowed the expedition naturalist Georg Steller to go ashore, and Sofron Khitrovo managed to go on boats for water.

Meeting with the Americans - from the diary of Georg Steller

After standing for less than a day, we turned back: autumn was approaching. The return journey turned out to be stormy and difficult. Scurvy broke out, and Bering himself fell ill. The sailor Shumagin was the first to die and was buried on the island (this group of islands is still called the Shumaginsky islands). When, according to all data, they were already approaching Kamchatka, the packet boat was practically uncontrollable and floated “like a piece of dead wood.”

When they saw land on November 4, 12 people on the ship had already died, 34 were sick. Bering decided to land on unknown land. They anchored, but a storm wave broke the anchor rope, and “St. Peter” was carried toward the reefs bordering a small bay, near which the water boiled with white foam. Having slipped literally 20 meters from the entrance reef, the packet boat found itself on calm water. They stood at the two remaining anchors and began to take the sick ashore; many of them, taking a breath of fresh, clean air, died.

Adjacent to the bay was a valley surrounded by low mountains, already covered with snow. A small river with crystal clear water ran through the valley. They began to build houses on its shore. The sick Bering was transferred to a separate dugout dug especially for him. Arctic foxes scurried around, and the abundance of seals and sea otters was surprising. Soon, during a storm, the packet boat "St. Peter", torn from its anchors, was thrown ashore; patients continued to die; Bering died on December 8. Unlike the others, he was buried tied to a board. By spring they looked around - they found out that they were on a treeless, uninhabited island (from Steller’s diary), and decided to build a small ship from the remains of the packet boat in order to get to Kamchatka on it. They ate the meat of a discarded whale, beat seals and sea otters. In the spring, the situation was saved by grasses, and most importantly, by a sea cow.

On August 14, 1742, on the built one-masted hookor "St. Peter", the surviving 46 people (out of 77 who set sail) left the island, giving it the name Bering.

A wooden cross was placed on the commander's grave. In Commander Bay, 14 crew members of the packet boat “St. Peter”, who could not withstand the illnesses and hardships of the voyage, remained forever, as well as a store with ship property and 14 cannons - silent and eternal evidence of the expedition that made a great geographical discovery. Truly this place is a shrine of the Russian fleet.

In 1874, representatives of the Russian-American Company, estimating where the grave of the great navigator could be located, erected a wooden cross. Later, local historians erected the current monument. It consists of two stone rectangles superimposed on each other, covered with a cast iron plate on top. An iron cross 3.5 m high crowns the tombstone. The monument is majestic, strict and simple. In the only village on Bering Island, the village of Nikolskoye, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean, three more monuments to Vitus Bering were erected on a historical site.

In 1991, the 250th anniversary of Bering and Chirikov's voyage to the shores of Northwestern America was celebrated, and the International Society "Underwater World" together with the Institute of Archeology of the USSR Academy of Sciences organized an expedition to Commander Bay on Bering Island. At the suggestion of the head of the expedition A.K. Stanyukovich, the Leningrad Society "Memory of the Baltic" formed an underwater archaeological detachment, which included experienced Leningrad submarine divers V.N. Polyakov, M.E. Mikhailova, D.Yu. Stolbov, A.P. Rubailo, I. A. Pyaterichenko and V. A. Dronov from the Voronezh club "Reef". The main objectives of the expedition: comprehensive study and preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Commander Islands, search for Bering's grave, underwater archaeological work to search for the anchors of the packet boat "St. Peter" in Commander Bay.

Geography

The Commander Islands are located in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean, bordering the Bering Sea to the south, and are the western tip of the Aleutian island arc. The archipelago includes about 15 islands of different sizes, the largest of which are Bering Island and Medny Island. The islands are located in a fairly compact group and lie approximately 175 kilometers east of Kamchatka between 55° 31" north latitude and 165° 04" and 168° east longitude. The Bering and Medny islands stretch from northeast to southwest, they are separated by a strait 49 kilometers wide. In this strait the sea is rarely calm - currents and winds do their job. Passing the strait on small vessels is not a safe undertaking. And for the same reason, it is extremely difficult to approach the island itself, Medny.

The length of Bering Island is 90 km, the average width is 18 km, the area is 1667 sq. km. Medny Island length is 53 km, average width is 5 km, area is 186 sq. km. Low (average height 9 m) and flat Toporkov Island with an area of ​​approximately 0.5 sq. km. is located 4 km west of Cape Entrance Reef (Nikolskoye village, Bering Island) and has a circumference of 2 km. Another island - Ariy Kamen - is located 10 km west of Nikolskoye and is a rock 53 meters high and 1 km in circumference. The remaining islands are much smaller isolated rocks, which are located in close proximity to the shores of the Bering and Medny islands. The Commander Islands are the top of underwater ridges. The heights of Bering Island are 150-755 meters above sea level, the highest point is Mount Steller (755 m); Medny Island is slightly lower - 360-647 meters, the highest point is Mount Steineger (647 m). Both islands are broken by faults.

Due to the abundance of precipitation, inland waters are widely represented by short rivers, rivers and streams; There are many lakes and swamps. Large lakes reach depths of up to 20 m, being former sea bays. The largest lake on Bering Island is Saranoye Lake. The largest number of sockeye salmon come here to spawn.

The coastal-marine zone is characterized by large depths, which is typical of island arcs. This contributes to the abrasive activity of waves, which is also favored by small ebbs and flows, expanding the zone of manifestation of the wave factor. In addition, ice does not form in the coastal zone, with the exception of narrow fast ice off the low-lying coast of the northern part of Bering Island, where temporary ice drift from the coast of Kamchatka is possible.

Geological structure

Like other island arcs, the Komandor-Aleutian arc is composed of volcanic rocks - basalts and andesites. The volcanic island of this arc protrudes above sea level in the form of separate groups of islands in the Aleutian archipelago. Its larger part is characterized by modern volcanism and intense earthquakes. By their origin, the Commander Islands belong to the continental-ocean type. There are no modern manifestations of volcanism on them, but earthquakes are observed quite often in the form of tremors, although their strength is insignificant (occasionally there are 5-6 points). According to the latest data, thanks to the installed modern equipment, the island is moving towards Kamchatka at a speed of 6-7 mm per year. That is, in about 162 million years the island will connect with Kamchatka (these are the assumptions of the author of this site :-)). Tsunami waves are associated with seaquakes on the Commanders. There are no volcanoes or hot springs on the island. There is no oil and gas either. Only on o. Mednom discovered reserves of copper ore, after which it was named.

Currently, there is no single point of view on the geological history of the Commander Islands. Reconstruction of relief development is possible only in general terms due to the incompleteness of geomorphological and paleogeographic data. Therefore, there is no exact data on the origin of the islands.

Climate

The Commander Islands are located in the oceanic sector of the temperate zone in the southern non-ice-covered part of the Bering Sea (the southern border of the floating ice runs along the 56th parallel, not reaching the Commander Islands). The climate of the islands is mainly influenced by circulation processes developing over the northern part of the Pacific Ocean. The Commander's climate is influenced by the cold current from the Arctic Ocean and branches of the warm Kuroshio Current. As a result of the interaction of these factors, a rather peculiar climate is formed here with relatively mild winters and cool summers. The transition seasons are shorter than summer and winter (some researchers figuratively call the islands “the land of eternal autumn”). The ocean does not freeze in winter.

The obvious manifestation of interconnected zonal components in island nature - climate, soils, vegetation - led to the formation of a subarctic natural zone on the Commander Islands. It is noticeable that to a large extent this natural zone was formed under the influence of the subarctic climate. In the conditions of Commander, such a climate receives moisture all year round, and in winter, heat from the Pacific Ocean. As mentioned, the subarctic oceanic climate determined the nature of the soil and plant covers of the tundra and forest-tundra types. The influence of the azonal factor - the intra-island features of the mountainous terrain - affects the peculiar features of the microclimate and the distribution of cultivated plants. Thus, on Medny Island in Korabelnaya Bay they successfully grew many vegetables and potatoes. But on the same island in the village of Preobrazhenskoye, the residents failed: here the vegetables did not have time to ripen. Again, the peculiarities of the valley topography explain the emergence of a forest-tundra landscape in it. A tundra landscape is formed on the surface of mountains, plateaus and hills.

Constant weather observations on the Commanders have been carried out since 1889. The only weather station is now located in the village of Nikolskoye on Bering Island. Until the mid-60s, observations were also carried out in the village of Preobrazhenskoye on Medny Island, but then the village and the weather station ceased to exist. The average annual temperature on Bering Island is 2.1 degrees Celsius, on Medny Island - 2.8 degrees Celsius. The average annual wind speed on the Commanders is 7.1 m/s. Almost every month there are days when the wind speed reaches hurricane force - more than 30 m/s (108 km/h). Most of these days are in March and December. You sit in the house and think - will the glass in the windows squeeze out or not? The dishes clink quietly, the house is made of wood. So far everything is going well, except for the slate sheets that have been torn off here and there from the roofs. In general, we are accustomed to this weather. The number of days with winds exceeding 15 meters per second is about 80 per year.

Animal world

The intermediate position between North-Eastern Siberia and the northern part of the Pacific Ocean favored the formation of a rich fauna on the Commander Islands. Fish, birds, and mammals are widely represented here. Among fish, salmon are the most important - sockeye salmon, coho salmon, pink salmon and others. Numerous birds form bird colonies of gulls, fulmars, puffins, cormorants, guillemots and others (more than 170 species of birds in total). Amphibians and reptiles are completely absent here. Simply put: we don’t have dragons, dinosaurs, crocodiles, snakes, lizards or frogs.

The main wealth of the Commander is its unique animal world. The islands have become an invaluable treasure trove of a wide variety of animals and birds, including rare, endangered and endemic ones, not found anywhere else in the world. The history of the development of the Commander Islands from the moment of their discovery is inextricably linked with the trade of fur-bearing animals. On the island beaches there were extensive rookeries of fur seals, among which sea lions stood out for their yellow-brown color. Many blue foxes lived in their neighborhood, and the most valuable fur-bearing animals in the world, sea otters, took refuge in the complex labyrinths of the coastal rocks.

During the long-term interaction of zonal, azonal and paleogeographic factors, the diverse and rich nature of the Commander Islands was created. This is the main reason why over the past two and a half centuries since the discovery of the Commander, they have undergone intensive development. The “development” of the Commander Islands began literally the next year after the participants of V. Bering’s expedition returned to Kamchatka. Their stories about the untold wealth of fur-bearing animals on the islands attracted the attention of Kamchatka industrialists. Temporary raids by industrialists continued until 1825, when the Aleuts were resettled to the Commanders for permanent residence. You can trace the “efficiency of management” from the information received from industrialists about the harvesting of marine animals. Thus, in 1754, P. Yakovlev, who spent the winter on Bering Island, reports that there were still a lot of sea cows and industrialists “are causing great waste and death to those herds of cows found near the shore in the sea.” He was the first to advise his superiors to ban the harmful fishing of sea cows. However, the extermination of sea cows continued, and already during the winter on Bering Island in 1760-1761. industrialist A. Tolstoy there were very few of them left, so the team ate the meat of fur seals and sea lions. As is known, the last sea cow was killed seven years after this message. The improvement of the fishing industry was facilitated to a certain extent by scientific research, which began to be carried out in the second half of the 19th century. and continue to this day.

Much has been done by domestic and, partly, foreign scientists to study the flora and fauna of the Commander. Numerous scientific materials, mainly on seals, sea otters and arctic foxes, have been published in various publications. It is significant that knowledge of animals was carried out, as a rule, in connection with the needs of the fishing industry. Among the researchers, one cannot help but mention N.A. Grebnitsky, who worked in 1877 - 1907 as the head of the fisheries at the Commanders. The famous zoologist E.K. Suvorov studied the fur trade on the Commander Islands and published a book about it (1912). Among foreign researchers, the American biologist L. Steineger is known, who visited the Commanders from 1882 to 1922; he wrote several books about the islands. Much work was carried out on various biological issues, including the problems of fur farming.

Scientific research has led to restrictions on the slaughter of fur seals and blue foxes since 1924, and a ban on the hunting of sea otters. On a scientific basis, since 1954, Arctic foxes have been bred in cages, and since 1969, the relocation of sea otters to Bering Island from Medny began, where they were still preserved.

Currently, the Commanders are once again famous for their fur seals, the number of which has grown so much that it has become possible to resume their rational fishing. There are many arctic foxes on Bering Island, and in winter they are hunted for their valuable skins (nowadays they are almost never mined - it is not economically profitable).

The Commander Islands are a place of mass nesting of seabirds, a stopover during the migration period of Charadriiformes and Anseriformes. The Mednovsky blue fox, northern sea otter, antur, gyrfalcon, peregrine falcon, grey-winged gull, and red-legged gull, included in the Red Book of the Russian Federation, breed here. About 300 thousand marine mammals are concentrated along the coastline of the islands. Several species, such as sea otters, anturus, Commander's sand lance, and minke whales, are listed in the IUCN Red Book. There are also killer whales and beaked whales. How many whales there used to be can be judged from the article, which talks about the planned whaling near the Commander Islands.

Compared to the coast, where in the summer months life seethes and bubbles, never calming down for a minute, the interior tundra areas of the islands are quite deserted and poor in living creatures. Only the Lapland plantain can be called truly numerous here - a modestly colored bird reminiscent of our sparrow. In the mountains, on passes covered with yellow gravel, pairs of Mongolian plovers will meet you and accompany you for a long time, and on the descent into the river valley their place will be taken by other sandpipers - Beringian sandpipers. But all these birds, having raised their babies, will gradually move closer to the sea, and then the tundra will be completely empty. The only bird that can be found here at any time of the year is the tundra partridge.

There are even fewer four-legged inhabitants in the tundra than birds. Wild reindeer, American mink, red vole and... rats. They were brought here by humans in the recent past. Deer and voles first appeared on the island in the 19th century. Rats, and at the same time mice, “true friends” of man, most likely arrived with the first goods brought here by people. They live both in the village and on the island.

Vegetable world

Due to frequent strong winds and low summer temperatures, the islands are treeless, although they are located at the same latitude as, say, Tula or Ufa. All attempts to grow the imported trees invariably ended in failure. Among the Komandorsky species of rowan, birch and willow, shrub and dwarf shrub forms predominate, and very rarely, in gullies protected from the winds, you can find small, strongly curved trees. Common willow thickets along river valleys rarely exceed 1.5 m in height. Most of the territory is occupied by various types of tundra and herbaceous communities. In general, Komandorsky communities are characterized by a strong mosaic pattern depending on microclimatic conditions, soil, exposure and slope slope.

The soil and vegetation cover of the islands is of the tundra type. The soils are thin, slightly podzolized, with a predominance of loamy and sandy loam fine earth. Primitive soils slowly form on rocky slopes. Only on the coasts do more fertile soils with a peat-humus layer form. The tundra vegetation covering such soils owes its existence to the subarctic features of the oceanic climate. Excessive moisture, low air temperatures during the growing season and strong winds are to blame for this. Therefore, low-grass carpet vegetation, as well as creeping forms of trees and shrubs, are developed here. On open surfaces there are common growths of juniper and dwarf cedar. Only in the valleys are there thickets of willow, rowan, and stone birch 1-2 m high. There, in the lower tier, lush tall grasses of hogweed and shelaminum are striking. Harsh natural conditions explain the fact that there are almost 2.5 times fewer land plants on the Commanders than on the Kuril Islands. But in the relatively warm coastal waters of the Commander Islands there is an exceptional abundance of various algae (about 200 species), i.e. almost half of all types of terrestrial vegetation.

E.F. Guryanova, a well-known specialist in seaweed who worked on the Commanders, believes that it is difficult to find similar areas in the entire World Ocean that are comparable in their flora to the algae of Bering Island. Is this not one of the reasons that explains the localization specifically on the Sea Cow Commanders? Moreover, their enemies were absent here until a man appeared who foolishly destroyed numerous herds of these animals in just over two decades.

Commanders are located at the junction of floristic regions - gravitating in their species composition to Kamchatka, they also bear features of the flora of the Aleutian ridge. Suffice it to say that almost a quarter of the species are located on the boundaries of their ranges (11 species have the western and 93 - eastern boundaries of their ranges on the islands). This transition can be traced within the Komandorsky archipelago itself - on Medny Island, “American” species have become more widespread, a striking example of this is the abundance of curved buttercup, and literally carpets of Claytonia Siberian. On both islands, the endemic of the Commander Islands - island wormwood - is quite common. Due to this uniqueness, Commanders are often identified as a separate floristic region.

About 40 species were brought to the islands by humans. Most of them appeared in the 70-80s. 20th century during a period of intensive agricultural work. Annual reseeding was carried out on numerous mowing areas. Subsequently, this work was determined to be unprofitable and further work was abandoned. Some of the introduced species have disappeared, some can still be found, but almost all populations are small and in a depressed state, many of them bloom only by September and cannot reproduce by seeds. Some species, such as cumin, wild garlic and golden root, were specially planted by residents in different years in the northern and middle parts of the island, but they are not in the best condition.

There are a lot of berries on the islands, but only “according to the list” - many types, but little use; a fruitful year here can be safely equated to a lean year on the mainland. The most collected ones are rowan and crowberry, followed by cloudberry, princess and blueberry, and also lingonberry. The rest are present in "trace amounts". But there really are a lot of mushrooms. Among the Red Book species we can name the following: the abundant on Bering Island, a lover of small, clean lakes, the inconspicuous marine slipper, the quite common dim Yatabe slipper, the truly rare and in need of strict protection, the beautiful grandiflora slipper, and the true slipper, known only from Steller's list. Arnica Lessing and Trillium Kamchatka, which are rare for the islands, are also included in the Red Book of Kamchatka.

Storm petrels and puffed puffins nest in holes made in the turfy caps of rocks, while guillemots, mossocks and white-bellied guillemots nest in cracks in rocky cliffs, niches and voids under stones. Cormorants perch somewhere on the edge and, stretching out their snake-like necks, watch with interest the noisy life of their numerous neighbors. And prim guillemots sit nearby. Fulmars - sea pigeons - perched on the steep cliffs. The peregrine falcon regularly collects tribute from bird markets, capable of overtaking the chosen victim with a swift lunge. By the way, blue foxes are not averse to eating bird eggs or chicks. Coastal cliffs also serve as a haven for various small birds - wrens, finches, buntings. The simple but melodic songs of these birds are extremely pleasing after the incredible cacophony that reigns in seabird colonies.

The indigenous inhabitants of the islands are the Aleuts

Until 1825, there was no permanent population on the Commander Islands. On about. Bering and on Copper Island, the Russian-American Company (R.A.K.) imported replacement batches of Russian industrialists (miners) for the extraction of fur from sea cats and beavers (sea otters). The first artel was landed on Medny Island in 1805, it consisted of 13 people. This group of sea hunters stayed on the islands for a long time. Other artels were also imported, some of whose members were married to Aleuts. Documents dated 1819 indicate that 15 people lived (temporary settlement) at that time in the south of Medny Island, and 30 in the north of Bering Island.

Then both islands were part of the Atha department of the R.A.K. By decision of the Main Office of the Russian Colony of America, the ruler of the department, Mershenin, organized in 1825 the delivery of the first batch of Aleuts with their families from Atha Island to Bering Island. In 1826, another party of Aleuts and Creoles* was resettled from the islands of Attu and Atha.

Together with the first Russian artels, the introduced aborigines of the Aleutian Islands and Creoles became the first permanent residents of the current Aleutian region of the Kamchatka region. In 1827, 110 people lived on Bering Island (17 Russians, 24 Aleuts, 13 Creoles; 21 Aleut women, 35 Creoles). In subsequent years, Russian pensioners (whose contracts with R.A.K. had expired) and workers brought from Kamchatka, the Fox and Andrean Islands, Kodiak Island, Sitka and California settled on the islands. Among them were Eskimos, several Indians, individual representatives of different peoples of Russia, including the indigenous inhabitants of Kamchatka - the Kamchadals and Ainu.

After the sale of Russian America and the Aleutian Islands, the Commander Islands were transferred to the Peter and Paul District. A feature of life on the islands is isolation from the outside world and the islands themselves from each other. In 1879 (B. Dybovsky), 168 people lived on both islands of Aleuts (including 100 on Medny Island), a total of 332 Creoles, among the rest there were 10 percent Russians and other nationalities. Considering that the Creoles spoke Russian and adhered to the national traditions of their mothers, scientists classify the majority of their population as Aleuts.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th centuries. the entire population of the islands accepted Orthodoxy.

The name of the people - Aleuts - was invented by the Russians. The self-names of the indigenous population of the islands are different: Sasignan or Saksinnan (Bering Island), Unangan (Medny Island), etc. Then, mixing with Creoles and representatives of other peoples, the population adopted the self-name Aleuts. However, the language on Bering Island and Medny Island did not become common: two dialects developed.

The written language of the Aleut language, created by the Bishop of Kamchatka, Aleut and Commander Innocent (Veniaminov), who was also a prominent ethnographer and linguist, did not spread to the Commander Islands.

Writing on the Commanders was not created in Soviet times, although there were prerequisites for this: the alphabet was approved, and the “Aleutian-Russian, Russian-Aleutian Dictionary” (E. Golovko) was published.

The main reason was the small number of Aleuts living compactly on Bering Island (the village of Preobrazhenskoye on Medny Island was closed in the 1960s) - 370 people.

Despite very strong assimilation, the Aleuts retained their genetic structure, and science recognizes them as Aleuts. It’s worse with culture: with the death of the language (fewer and fewer of its speakers), many national customs and traditions are lost, oral folk art - folklore - is fading away.

The Aleutian intelligentsia and old-timers are doing everything possible to revive and preserve the national culture. For these purposes, a small people in the regional center - the village of Nikolskoye - created two dance and folklore groups - "Unangan" and "Chiyan".

Around the island with a backpack

Of greatest interest to travelers is the northeastern coast of Bering Island from Cape Monati to Cape North-East, since Cape Nepropusk, Komandor and Buyan bays, and the highest waterfalls are located on this coast.

Cape Monati(54° 41" north latitude, 166° 40" east longitude) is the southeastern tip of Bering Island. It is tall and rocky. To the north of the cape, the area rises to mountains devoid of vegetation more than 500 m high. Not everyone has been able to visit there. The fastest and relatively safest way is by sea by boat.

Cape Neprosk 48 meters high, located 5.5 km north of Cape Monati and is a sheer rocky cliff. two and three kilometers south of Cape Nepropusk there are two waterfalls, falling from a height of 26 and 68 meters.

Cape Peregrebny is located 13 km north of Cape Nepropusk. 4 km north of it stretches a high steep bank with magnificently beautiful waterfalls, dropping their waters from heights of 65, 93 and 69 meters.

Cape Tolstoy located approximately 8 km northwest of Cape Peregrebny and formed by a rocky outcrop of land more than 180 meters high. There is an all-terrain road along Laida.

Cape Commander protrudes slightly from the coast and is located just over five kilometers from Cape Tolsty. The cape is formed by a hill that descends to the sea with sand and pebble scree, in places overgrown with grass. In the area of ​​the cape in 1741, the packet boat "St. Peter" was wrecked. Captain-Commander Vitus Bering died here. The graves of the remaining crew members are also located here. There is an all-terrain road along Laida.

Cape Polovinny. Polovina Bay, Polovina River. It is located 8 km from Cape Commander. To the south of it, a noticeable low-lying valley reaches the shore, running across the island. There is an all-terrain road along Laida.

Cape Buyan located northwest of Cape Polovinny at a distance of 14 km. It is formed by a sharp turn of a low bank and protrudes slightly into the sea. In Buyan Bay, the Buyan River washes away semi-precious stones - jasper, opal, agate. There is an all-terrain road along Laida. You can also get there by motorcycle, but it’s difficult.

Old Harbor Bay- popularly "Old Woman". It juts out into the northeastern coast of Bering Island, 16-17 km from Cape Buyan. It is formed by a small bend of the coast and two reefs. It is located, as we say, “on the other side.” Southern coast of the Bering Sea. Local resort. For some reason the weather here is always better than in the village. More sunny days, warmer. On weekends, sometimes quite a lot of people gather to relax and sunbathe. If you're lucky, swim in the bay, which is very shallow. Go fishing.

North-West rookery. The "home" rookery is located 16 km from the village. Visible from the window of the house. The road is well-trodden, although it can be called a road with a stretch. The most accessible place to visit. True, the observation overpass is almost completely destroyed.

Northern rookery, Cape Yushina. About 25 km along the road from the village. A new observation overpass approximately 300 meters long was built. The road to the rookery is also very rough. But for a walker there are no problems. You can walk along the shore from the North-West rookery.

Photos

after the transfer of Alaska to America. Where are they located, and who discovered the Commander Islands?

Discoverer of the northern lands

The Commander Archipelago is a chain of four land areas. Some of them belong to the Kamchatka and Aleutian regions.

To the question “Who discovered the Commander Islands and when?” there is a clear answer. The largest formations in the archipelago are the Bering and Medny islands. On the first of them Vitus Bering, who discovered the land in 1741, is buried. According to his military status, the new territorial entity was named “commander”.

Geography of the islands

The territory is located near Kamchatka. The Commander Islands are separated from the Aleutian archipelago by the Blizhny Strait. The water border is 370 km wide. The territory is located between the Bering Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The area of ​​the archipelago is 1848 sq. km.

Native people

The population of the islands is Aleuts. The number of Russians is extremely small - 670 people. The only settlement formed here is the village of Nikolskoye.

Despite the fact that the territory is located in the North, the destination is popular among tourists. Unique landscapes, rare animals and the original culture of local peoples create the conditions for an interesting trip.

Until the mid-20th century, the natural resources of the Commander Islands were used by humans without restrictions, which led to the destruction of fauna and the extermination of some species of wildlife, 40 of which are described in the Red Book of Russia. It was not until 1958 that a 30 km long fence was created to prohibit fishing. The reserve on the islands was formed in 1993. In 2005, the archipelago was included in the tentative list of world heritage sites of the international organization UNESCO.

From the history of the Commander Islands

The Bering discovery is part of the territory remaining in Russian possession after the transfer of Alaska to America.

Until the 19th century, there was no permanent population in the territory. At that time, the lands belonged to the Russian-American colonial company, and no one set goals to develop them due to the harsh climate and remoteness of the area, and the complexity of developing technologies.

The first settlements were formed from hunters. In 1825, large-scale development began. The indigenous inhabitants of the Aleutian Islands, the Eskimos, were brought to the Commander Islands. In total there were about 100 people. The extraction of fish and minerals in these parts brought great profits, so contracts were concluded and new personnel were sent here. By the end of the 60s there were about 600 inhabitants.

The last two decades have been indigenous to the islands, borrowed from what is now US-owned Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. Today they call themselves Saksinnan and Unangan - new nationalities appeared as a result of the mixing of Russians with Creoles and other nationalities living there.

Now you know who discovered the Commander Islands and what is remarkable about the archipelago.

: 54°40′ N. w. 167°50′ E. d. /  54.667° N. w. 167.833° E. d. / 54.667; 167.833 (G) (I)

Washing watersBering Sea, Pacific Ocean

total area1846 km² Highest point755 m A countryRussia, Russia AE first levelKamchatka Krai Population (2015)637 people Population density0.345 people/km²

Commander Islands- an archipelago of four islands in the southwestern part of the Bering Sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean. Administratively they are part of the Aleutian region of the Kamchatka Territory of Russia. The islands are named after the navigator Commander Vitus Bering who discovered them in 1741. On the largest of them - Bering Island - there is the navigator's grave. The Commander Islands are a place of mixture of Russian and Aleutian cultures. They have huge potential for the development of northern tourism.

Story

The first Europeans to visit the Commander Islands are considered to be members of the Second Kamchatka Expedition, who crashed near Bering Island in 1741. Medny Island was discovered by industrialist Emelyan Basov, who gave it this name.

Publications about the natural resources of the islands began to appear from the end of the 18th century.

Geography

The Commander Islands are the western tip of the Aleutian island arc and are separated from the Aleutian Islands by the Near Strait, about 370 km wide. The total area of ​​the archipelago is 1848 km². It is located on the border of the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea, 200 km east of the Kamchatka Peninsula, from which it is separated by the Kamchatka Strait. Bering and Medny Islands are separated by the Admiral Kuznetsov Strait.

Compound

The archipelago includes:

Economic activity

Administrative division

Administratively, the islands make up the Aleutian region.

Settlements

The village of Nikolskoye on the island. Beringa is the only populated area of ​​the islands. The population according to the 2015 census is 637 people.

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Notes

Literature

• Marakov S. V. Nature and fauna Commander / S. V. Marakov; Rep. ed. Doctor of Biology sciences, prof. A. G. Tomilin; Academy of Sciences of the USSR. - M.: Science, 1972. - 185, p. - (General scientific popular publications). - 25,000 copies.(region)
• Pasenyuk L. M. I'm walking along the Commanders. - M.: Soviet Russia, 1974. - 284, p. - (On Russian land). - 50,000 copies.(region)
• Mochalova O. A., Yakubov V. V. Flora of the Commander Islands. - Vladivostok: Biological and Soil Institute, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 2004. - 120 p.

Links

• Commander Islands- article from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.

Commander Islands

An excerpt characterizing the Commander Islands

The husband looked at her as if he was surprised to notice that someone else besides him and Pierre was in the room; and he turned inquiringly to his wife with cold politeness:
– What are you afraid of, Lisa? “I can’t understand,” he said.
– That’s how all men are selfish; everyone, everyone is selfish! Because of his own whims, God knows why, he abandons me, locks me in the village alone.
“With your father and sister, don’t forget,” Prince Andrei said quietly.
- Still alone, without my friends... And he wants me not to be afraid.
Her tone was already grumbling, her lip lifted, giving her face not a joyful, but a brutal, squirrel-like expression. She fell silent, as if finding it indecent to talk about her pregnancy in front of Pierre, when that was the essence of the matter.
“Still, I don’t understand, de quoi vous avez peur, [What are you afraid of," Prince Andrei said slowly, without taking his eyes off his wife.
The princess blushed and waved her hands desperately.
- Non, Andre, je dis que vous avez tellement, tellement change... [No, Andrei, I say: you have changed so, so...]
“Your doctor tells you to go to bed earlier,” said Prince Andrei. - You should go to bed.
The princess said nothing, and suddenly her short, whiskered sponge began to tremble; Prince Andrei, standing up and shrugging his shoulders, walked around the room.
Pierre looked in surprise and naively through his glasses, first at him, then at the princess, and stirred, as if he, too, wanted to get up, but was again thinking about it.
“What does it matter to me that Monsieur Pierre is here,” the little princess suddenly said, and her pretty face suddenly blossomed into a tearful grimace. “I’ve been wanting to tell you for a long time, Andre: why did you change so much towards me?” What I did to you? You're going to the army, you don't feel sorry for me. For what?
- Lise! - Prince Andrey just said; but in this word there was a request, a threat, and, most importantly, an assurance that she herself would repent of her words; but she continued hastily:
“You treat me like I’m sick or like a child.” I see everything. Were you like this six months ago?
“Lise, I ask you to stop,” said Prince Andrei even more expressively.
Pierre, who became more and more agitated during this conversation, stood up and approached the princess. He seemed unable to bear the sight of tears and was ready to cry himself.
- Calm down, princess. It seems like this to you, because I assure you, I myself experienced... why... because... No, excuse me, a stranger is superfluous here... No, calm down... Goodbye...
Prince Andrei stopped him by the hand.
- No, wait, Pierre. The princess is so kind that she will not want to deprive me of the pleasure of spending the evening with you.
“No, he only thinks about himself,” said the princess, unable to hold back her angry tears.
“Lise,” said Prince Andrei dryly, raising his tone to the degree that shows that patience is exhausted.
Suddenly the angry, squirrel-like expression of the princess’s beautiful face was replaced by an attractive and compassion-arousing expression of fear; She glanced from under her beautiful eyes at her husband, and on her face appeared that timid and confessing expression that appears on a dog, quickly but weakly waving its lowered tail.
- Mon Dieu, mon Dieu! [My God, my God!] - said the princess and, picking up the fold of her dress with one hand, she walked up to her husband and kissed him on the forehead.
“Bonsoir, Lise, [Good night, Liza,” said Prince Andrei, getting up and politely, like a stranger, kissing his hand.

The friends were silent. Neither one nor the other began to speak. Pierre glanced at Prince Andrei, Prince Andrei rubbed his forehead with his small hand.
“Let’s go have dinner,” he said with a sigh, getting up and heading to the door.
They entered the elegantly, newly, richly decorated dining room. Everything, from napkins to silver, earthenware and crystal, bore that special imprint of novelty that happens in the household of young spouses. In the middle of dinner, Prince Andrei leaned on his elbow and, like a man who has had something on his heart for a long time and suddenly decides to speak out, with an expression of nervous irritation in which Pierre had never seen his friend before, he began to say:
– Never, never get married, my friend; Here's my advice to you: don't get married until you tell yourself that you did everything you could, and until you stop loving the woman you chose, until you see her clearly; otherwise you will make a cruel and irreparable mistake. Marry an old man, good for nothing... Otherwise, everything that is good and lofty in you will be lost. Everything will be spent on little things. Yes Yes Yes! Don't look at me with such surprise. If you expect something from yourself in the future, then at every step you will feel that everything is over for you, everything is closed except for the living room, where you will stand on the same level as a court lackey and an idiot... So what!...
He waved his hand energetically.
Pierre took off his glasses, causing his face to change, showing even more kindness, and looked at his friend in surprise.
“My wife,” continued Prince Andrei, “is a wonderful woman.” This is one of those rare women with whom you can be at peace with your honor; but, my God, what I wouldn’t give now not to be married! I’m telling you this alone and first, because I love you.
Prince Andrei, saying this, looked even less like than before that Bolkonsky, who was lounging in Anna Pavlovna’s chair and, squinting through his teeth, spoke French phrases. His dry face was still trembling with the nervous animation of every muscle; the eyes, in which the fire of life had previously seemed extinguished, now shone with a radiant, bright shine. It was clear that the more lifeless he seemed in ordinary times, the more energetic he was in these moments of almost painful irritation.
“You don’t understand why I’m saying this,” he continued. – After all, this is a whole life story. You say Bonaparte and his career,” he said, although Pierre did not talk about Bonaparte. – You say Bonaparte; but Bonaparte, when he worked, walked step by step towards his goal, he was free, he had nothing but his goal - and he achieved it. But tie yourself to a woman, and like a shackled convict, you lose all freedom. And everything that you have in you of hope and strength, everything only weighs you down and torments you with remorse. Living rooms, gossip, balls, vanity, insignificance - this is a vicious circle from which I cannot escape. I am now going to war, to the greatest war that has ever happened, but I know nothing and am no good for anything. “Je suis tres aimable et tres caustique, [I am very sweet and very eater,” continued Prince Andrei, “and Anna Pavlovna listens to me.” And this stupid society, without which my wife and these women cannot live... If only you could know what it is toutes les femmes distinguees [all these women of good society] and women in general! My father is right. Selfishness, vanity, stupidity, insignificance in everything - these are women when they show everything as they are. If you look at them in the light, it seems that there is something, but nothing, nothing, nothing! Yes, don’t get married, my soul, don’t get married,” Prince Andrei finished.
“It’s funny to me,” said Pierre, “that you consider yourself incapable, that your life is a spoiled life.” You have everything, everything is ahead. And you…
He didn’t say you, but his tone already showed how highly he valued his friend and how much he expected from him in the future.
“How can he say that!” thought Pierre. Pierre considered Prince Andrei to be a model of all perfections precisely because Prince Andrei united to the highest degree all those qualities that Pierre did not have and which can be most closely expressed by the concept of willpower. Pierre was always amazed at Prince Andrei's ability to calmly deal with all kinds of people, his extraordinary memory, erudition (he read everything, knew everything, had an idea about everything) and most of all his ability to work and study. If Pierre was often struck by Andrei’s lack of ability for dreamy philosophizing (to which Pierre was especially prone), then in this he saw not a disadvantage, but a strength.