Sovetsk, Russia

Capital City

With a population of just 56,573, the reality of living in this Russian town is far from glamorous. Sovetsk, formerly known as Tilsit, is a bureaucratic headache - foreign visitors must obtain advance permission to travel here, slowing development in this potentially thriving border town. The climate is a borderline oceanic affair, verging on the dreary and damp. While the town retains some pre-war architecture, including a bridge once adorned with the likeness of Queen Louise, the sense is one of a place that has seen better days. This is not the Russia of grand imperial ambitions, but rather a provincial outpost, far removed from the glitz of Moscow. Sovetsk is best suited for those seeking an authentic, if at times frustrating, experience of life in the Russian hinterland.