They say Russia almost became Islamic.

 They say Russia almost became Islamic. The story is that Tsar Jaroslav the Wise during the Kievan Rus wanted to give up paganism. So, he called together representatives from all the world's religions.

The Islamic representative told him he could have all the wives he wanted. Jaroslav said, "Yeah, go on". The Islamic rep said, "But you can't drink alcohol". And Jaroslav was all like "get outta here..."

 

 

Russia, Ukraine, but no gates.

 OK, here's the Great Gate of Kyiv by Modest Mussorgsky:

That was not exactly a true statement, but it has nothing to do with US politics and more to do with Ukrainian Culture. In this case, the Great Gate of Kyiv.

Actually, The Golden Gate of Kyiv (Ukrainian: Золоті ворота, Zoloti vorota),which was the main gate in the 11th century fortifications of Kyiv, the capital of Kievan Rus'. It was named in imitation of the Golden Gate of Constantinople. The structure was dismantled in the Middle Ages, leaving few vestiges of its existence. It was rebuilt completely by the Soviet authorities in 1982, though no images of the original gates have survived. The decision has been immensely controversial because there were many competing reconstructions of what the original gate might have looked like.

So, we now have Kyivgate.

The amusing thing is that this was the theme song for the tv show, The New Statesman. Other silly cultural appropriation is the Mouret Fanfare used as the theme for Masterpiece Theatre. Mouret was a court composer for Louis XIV!

More pics of the great gate here: https://funart.pro/2439-zolotye-vorota-vorota-ukraina-21-foto.html

And https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate%2C_Kyiv for more info on this gate.