At the end of July, a felt boot Russian traditional winter boot (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valenki) (in Russian valenok, plural: valenki), was solemnly established in a tourist ethnic village of Mandrogi. Sounds nothing unusual? OK, its sizes are 3.2 m. in height and 215 cm in length. No, it’s not a monument to the valenok and not a model of the valenok. Just the valenok itself made of wool which is used to produce felt boots in Russia. It’s the real valenok, merely very big.
The weight of the installation created by St. Petersburg artist Valeriya Loshar and transported by truck is more than three hundred kilos. By Russian standards for the shoes sizes, the valenok is of 306 size. For comparison, a middle-aged man in Russia wears shoes of 43 size. Thus the boot fits a Gulliver which is as seven times big as an ordinary man. Well, maybe Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun from the Game of Thrones would buy a pair? By the way, given the severe conditions of the North and the coming of the long awaited winter, the giant really could be interested in visiting Mandrogi.
Unfortunately, the valenok is only one of its kind and will be covered by a glass frame to protect the exhibit from birds’ attacks. Over the ceremony, local birds found out that the wool could be good material to construct nests or whatever else.
A village of Mandrogi is a big picturesque tourist destination, an ethnic Russian village with both a number of attractions and Russian traditional wooden buildings, ethnic museums and themed entertainments. It’s located about 270 km of St. Petersburg.
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