A group of Russians have set up a village where they live on their home-grown food and practice pre-Christian Slavic traditions. Their lifestyle is just a short train ride away from Moscow.
The people in Popovka village have traded modern civilisation for age-old traditions and the mercy of nature. They welcome the summer with an ancient Slavic rite, and feed idols with bread, milk and oil to ask for a plentiful harvest.
Svetlana and Aleksey, a young couple who used to live in Moscow, say they are happy heating their house with wood and drawing water from the well.
“You know, I lived in Moscow while studying at a university. I had enough. The big metropolis destroys our communication with nature,” says Aleksey.
The community was formed 20 years ago by Olga Toropova, together with a few followers.
“We live here as we like. We don't want to impose anything upon anyone, we are just restoring old Slavic holidays,” says the villagers’ spiritual leader.
The community lives on what they grow in their fields and gardens. They also keep bees and a couple of cows.
Tourism is becoming another source of income.
