Unfinished Sochi Cultural Center Just Covered Up With Tarp

Thousands of residents of Sochi's Imereti Valley were evicted from the land that would become the Olympic complex, and despite their legal challenges and protests (including hunger strikes), were resettled in nearby Nekrasovskoye, a village built from scratch.

Residents were promised that it would be lovely, with parks, a playground, a tennis court, and a Sochi Cultural Center that would prove a big draw for Olympic visitors. Everything certainly looked lovely in the state-approved photos of Vladimir Putin's visit to Nekrasovskoye. ( Thumbs up, Vladi!)

But then you look at some photos of Nekrasovskoye, taken Jan. 27. There is no park, no playground, no tennis court, and the Cultural Center is just a concrete skeleton:

How on Earth would authorities get it ready for the Olympics?

Your answer is in the photo above, sent to us by reader Jon. A new tarp! It's been covered up with canvas painted with an exterior, and if you don't look too quickly while driving by, you might actually think it's a real building.

So the Sochi Cultural Center doesn't exist. But if you do find yourself in Nekrasovskoye, there's something even more worth seeing: a real-life Potemkin village.