this is like the. ancient history. first spoken. but the. thoughts to be europe's last pagans. in his family to set on a journey. in the making. many others living in this republic. just as their ancestors have done over the centuries. and his wife vera live in a small village called. it's

a republic about eight hundred kilometers east of moscow. i. was. live in russia and. there are two main groups. that was. odd. to the same ethnic group they speak different languages and live in different regions of the country. these people spend. too much take a trip to get away from. dozens of like minded folk find. themselves the rumors that. history. will take the traveling local to the

most mysterious places in the republic. on the freeway as the city has promised to show them. we go here and. then we have to get. cold weather. now we're going to try to reach the most interesting places. is the.

point is a. few people have succeeded in reaching its peak. the drivers went missing. they just lose. something. contact with one another. eventually reunite a coup. them. is considered a zone of abnormal activity local people often see unidentified flying objects. at . two hundred meters above sea level is the true.

reform were voted on it was only. visit. the capital of. the musicians. folk songs to entertain residents with their traditional melodies centuries ago. was a fortress. but large scale development has recently begun. a large swamp has been replaced with an embankment buildings looking like castles complete with towers and ramparts sprang up here just a short time ago with us. this is a kind of renai sorts. this place is incorporated many aspects of venice. and here we see

a northern influence with danish and dutch elements. similar buildings went up in the mary ellen republic quite a long time ago one example is a magnificent old castle standing on the banks of the volga two hundred kilometers from york. it was built amidst a thick forest by russian eristic rats of the share much of that. with the council was built not only by russian masters but also by foreign ones are being made to lend these tiles to the castle. here you can see the rock is then time and drum and stones as well as an alter russian style. in soviet times the castle was turned into a holiday resort the tourists what apprehensive about the building local people

spoke of ghostly inhabitants who they believed to be the casals guardians. today the castle is as imposing as it ever was the mess of doors leading into hollow rooms still produce a sinister creak. the. there are ghosts now castle. we hear the door screwed again as they move from room to room. but they don't bother us we share a common grounds and get along with them quite well. in the village of. coffee live everybody is getting ready for the press service. cleans his body and above else before facing one of the most important

events in his life that's daybreak he will take part in one of the most patient of sacred rights for the marri people. to moral take a candle to the secret group the mr weeks were such candles are made of him candles bought from shops are no good for this purpose they should be homemade. the candle symbolizes the link between me and god it will take my prayer to him. he is your for giving a mother a blessing in her son's life giving god. unlike christians who pray in church these worshipers go to a grove where they seek communion with nature but before setting else they say a brief prayer and.

everybody coming to the grove brings domestic waterfowl with them they serve as food for both the gods and the people you have getting to mention the office decided to sacrifice the fattest gives him his household a maori raghad geese and ducks a symbols of home and between three basic elements these creatures walk on earth swim in water and fly through the air. eight hundred animals were sacrificed here including a blue collar and a ram as well as nice and docks. one woman from the romas team has a good knowledge of the area and she provides a running commentary for all the that's it and the praise service is taking place near the five sacred trees each tree is dedicated to particular diety. everyone carefully follows the guides words as they take in the sights along the way as it

was clear all too ground was on the left hand side people praying the sacred place as soon as we get to the village of new sellout for the time that. the special day that the committee of couple has been looking forward to as arrived at last. vera and you have jenny have reached the sacred grove situated one hundred kilometers from. they thought was a fellow of a sacrifice. have also been brought by mary from all over the republic also the two off the press to their gods. at first the grove resonates with goose oaks soon after their only the echoes of priestly prayers and. these pagan. priests

know how to communicate with the gods people praying in a grove lost amidst pines and birches strong believes in the forces of nature they insist their faith is the world's oldest. people come with what we call sacrificial water fell. bringing and grievances along to. discuss their problems with the priest. and communicate by means of this tree. as their requests and wishes on that this table. enormous pot suspended if a bone finds the lips side by side with the old. there used to make porridge and just ceremonial meats broth. take a look at the docks in. the break up the bread into chunks and toss the pieces into the fire the bread and cheese have been brought by wash appears.

this is help people in russia worship before the arrival of christianity the maori have prayed the same way to their gods for several millenia. old these people are offering prayers to many gods which is the five spots have been set aside for bonfires in this group for example. in this one they pray to the gods. are asking for his grace in childbirth and happiness. and. the skin. in the bond funds it's forbidden to take any leftovers from the sacrificial offerings from the grove.

resistance is not politics but a culture. this could test. on its own. cultures of resistance on the march seems. just so. this.

district in the south west of madill is full of historic sites and rich and legends but the shortest road that ends on the shore of the volga the great russian river. from here affair is needed local pigeons of even memorised boats. there's a flux of regularly features around it from one shore of the volga to the other.

i'm. on the. plane has been handed down from generation to generation you know that there are very many.

this road formed a link between russia's capital and its siberian part. connected the country's western and eastern. russian poet alexander pushkin once travelled along it it was used by stage coaches or. has been at the head of the district for several years during this time he's been able to restore a dozen historical landmarks. we marry from the western bank of the volga are not great in number there are only fifty or sixty thousand of worlds is this

that is why we seek to stick together in order to safeguard our language culture and of course the land where we live in. the midst of. the burial site is the only one of its kind in the region cattle breeders of an iranian tribe buried here in the second millennium b.c. the time when the egyptian pyramids were built when excavation work was over scientists restored the burial place to its original appearance. the. twenty eight men between the ages of eighteen and twenty five are buried here there was also a woman and a man who was forty five to fifty years old when he was buried we think he was a blacksmith. arrowheads have been found and some of the skeletons skulls of other men were fractured with an axe.

the romans convoy suddenly stops at the edge of a swamp it's too dangerous to drive any further. the travelers spend a good deal of time walking around the frozen silt when they manage to measure the swamps and everybody realizes that attempting to cross the swamp is out of the question. and further he will have to look for another routes. and there is one and a half of water underneath is. however another road makes up for their misfortune it leads to what for centuries has been known locally as the fortress mountain. the maori people who lived here a long time ago used it as a hideout against intruders legend has it that the maori people were terrified of

being caught by the of new forest creatures covered with hair who had chosen to settle in the mountains caves. were black. if they felt their breaths were. they had little contact with. these happened and long time ago. they were launched forests with tall trees.

legends about the region have been handed down over the centuries by the mouth to mouth of the trouble knows a great many ancient stories relating to them larry people. one of them tells a story of an old oak tree several generations of married people have posed for a rest. it. used to help. of a tree is seven meters thick and. some scientists believe the. is russia's oldest. city is found several kilometers

away from the ancient. in the middle ages protection from invaders by building settlements in the way places one of them is high on the bank of a river in the district. natural obstacles provided protection for the inhabitants of these fortifications. team people came from the region to pray for. people in the surrounding villages. of the. twenty six to the gods. to join. prayer in appealing to the gods. to the. sacrificial. taking part in the

ritual. to bring the people together. people get closer to the gods by eating in this way. mari people from all over have come here even those living in moscow and st petersburg. everywhere in russia trying to be here for this press of us. before nightfall the romans finally find what they set out for at the start of the expedition the depression. norma's pitch in the very center of a field they hold their vehicles at a safe distance from it the people living in this village used to plough these fields and grow crops on it. but. they were awakened by loud noises. when they came here they were surprised to see

a large crazy in the middle of a field with some water in the boat some. scientists have found a sub to raney and stream beneath the depression when it erodes the top layer of the soil the ground sinks. with slope is very slippery and very steep i get scared at times i might be buried by sliding rocks a prospect i don't particularly relish. ok i'm almost there now. where's there is no water here local people prefer not to descend into the depression because this kind of cataclysm might happen at any time. but there is much to be learned from such expeditions people think that such things are only found in faraway lands but they are much closer to home.

yevgeny was pleasantly surprised just as he and his wife vera what about to head home after the service. you get in a good to come here for a moment. the priests whitecap was ceremonially placed upon his head as a token of great respect. no i'm not able to keep a low profile or stand on the sidelines i will have to be directly involved in the prayers ordinary people cherish told they will look to me with hope and in my words as i express their sentiments in front of the sacred tree. and we should good sales unhappiness. the commission of couple has taken

a plunge into the ancient faith of the people. by coming here they have truly experienced the joy of communion. they hope it will stay with them for the whole day until the next president that will once again bring the maori people together.

culture is the same of you are going to go right to the other even more so because the old world cup difference in these hard times nations no shortage of austerity can the slashing of budgets of the shrinking of the welfare state generate jobs and return us to. the world with. money it's technology innovation all these developments from the round russia we've got the huge earth covered. you know are sometimes you see a story and it seems so for lengthly you think you understand it and then you glimpse something else and you hear or see some other part of it and realize everything you thought you knew you don't know i'm sorry welcome to the big picture .

and so stories of tension rises and tell a big accuses iran of being behind the times targeting israeli embassies in georgia any india so people were injured in a car bomb blasts in new delhi while in tbilisi that device was discovered before it went off. also russia has announced it in regret of the arab league are winding down its observers more than syria as trust says a proposed peacekeeping mission can be deployed only was the government and opposition forces agreed to a cease fire you know while the grand jury or somebody members have met to discuss a non-binding resolution on syria aimed at overthrowing the regime. and brussels is relieved that the greek parliament causes

a new austerity bill demanded by the u.s. . to secure another one hundred sets have been then play nice despite the risk of public opposition and rioting but the relief is likely to be short lived as the euro crisis continues with rating agency moody's downgrading and nine easing the status of. the crippling austerity imposed on the people of greece is also the center of today's debate in coastal coming up next on l.c. . and. lead to the lead below and welcome to cross talk i'm peter lavelle in these hard times there is no shortage of austerity can the slashing of budgets and the shrinking of the welfare state generate jobs and return us to prosperity and is the pursuit of austerity inherently anti-democratic. and again.