Dacha look down upon as reflecting the nouveau-riche tastes of their owners—and feature ostentatious items such as marble statues, fountains and exotic plants. Some have state-of-the-art sporting facilities such as an indoor swimming pool, multiple tennis courts and stables for race horses. A few privately owned estates even have small forests and lakes. Wealthy Russians have also bought up many of the tsarist-era dachas of the aristocracy, and Soviet-era dachas of artists and intellectuals. Types of houses or gardens similar to the "dacha": Dacha A dacha () is a seasonal or year-round second home, often located in the exurbs of Russian
The Prayer of Russians The Prayer of Russians "The Prayer of Russians" () was a song used as the national anthem of Imperial Russia from 1816 to 1833. After defeating the First French Empire, Tsar Alexander I of Russia recommended a national anthem for Russia. The lyrics were written by Vasily Zhukovsky, and the music of the British anthem "God Save the King" was used. In 1833, "The Prayer of Russians" was replaced with "God Save the Tsar" ("Bozhe, tsarya khrani"). The two songs both start with the same words "Bozhe, tsarya khrani" but differ after that. Some consider "God Save the Tsar" Russia's