Irkutsk  is one of the largest cities in Siberia and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast, situated 5,185 kilometers (3,222 mi) by rail from Moscow. Population: 593,604 (2002 Census); 622,301 (1989 Census).

Irkutsk grew out of the winter quarters established (1652) by Yakov Pokhabov for gold-trading and for the collection of the fur tax from the Buryats. The town gained official city rights from the government in 1686. The first road connection between Moscow and Irkutsk, the Siberian Road (Сибирский Тракт, Sibirsky Trakt), was built in 1760. The city benefitted economically from this new road. Many new products, often imported from China, were widely available in Irkutsk for the first time, including gold, diamonds, furs, wood, silk, and tea.

In the early 19th century, many Russian artists, officers, and nobles were sent into exile to Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. Irkutsk became the major center of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and much of the city's cultural heritage comes from them; many of their wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations, survive today in stark contrast with the standard Soviet apartment blocks that surround them.

By the end of the 19th century there was one exiled man per two locals. Different people from the members of the Decemberists' uprising to Bolsheviks have been staying in Irkutsk for a long time. These people have greatly influenced the culture and the development of the city and it has finally became a prosperous cultural and educational center for Eastern Siberia.

1879, on July 4 and 6, the palace of the (then) Governor General, the principal administrative and municipal offices and many of the other public buildings were destroyed by fire; and the government archives, the library, and the museum of the Siberian section of the Russian Geographical Society were utterly ruined. Three quarters of the city were destroyed, including approximately four thousand houses. However, the city quickly rebounded, with electricity arriving in 1896, the first theater being built in 1897, and a major train station in 1898. The first train arrived in Irkutsk on August 16 of that year. By 1900, the city had earned the nickname "The Paris of Siberia."

During the civil war that broke out after the Bolshevik Revolution, Irkutsk became the site of many furious, bloody clashes between the "Whites" and the "Reds". In 1920, Kolchak, the once-feared commander of the largest contingent of anti-Bolshevik forces, was executed there, effectively destroying the anti-Bolshevik resistance.

During the Communist years, the industrialization of Irkutsk, and Siberia in general, was heavily encouraged. The large Irkutsk Reservoir was built on the Angara between 1950 and 1959 in order to facilitate industrial development.

The Epiphany Cathedral (illustrated, to the right), the governor's palace, a school of medicine, a museum, a military hospital, and the crown factories are among the public institutions and buildings. The Alexander Kolchak monument, designed by Vyacheslav Klykov, was unveiled in 2004. On July 27, 2004, the Irkutsk Synagogue (1881) was gutted by a conflagration.

Museums

The Taltsy Museum (Russian: Тальцы), located on the Angara 47 km south of Irkutsk, is an open-air museum of Siberian traditional architecture. Numerous old wooden buildings from villages in the Angara valley which have been flooded after the construction of the Bratsk Dam and Ust-Ilimsk Dam have been transported to the museum and reassembled there. One of the centerpieces of the collection is a partial recreation of the 17th-century ostrog (fortress) of Ilimsk, which consists of the original Spasskaya Tower and the Church of Our Lady of Kazan transported from the flooded ostrog in the mid-1970s, to which an exact modern copy of another tower of the ostrog and the southern wall of the fortress were added in the early 2000s.

See

Irkutsk is home to a remarkable number of historic churches, among them Ascension Church (1747-51), Epiphany Cathedral (1718-46), Our Lady of Kazan Church (1885-92), and Saviour Church (1706-13).

There are also a few historical museums in the houses of Decembrist exiles. The Volkonskiy House, located behind the Transfiguration Church off Ul. Timuryazeva near the bus station, was one of the focal points of the Decembrists' social life in the mid-19th Century. The Trubetskiy House at Ul. Dzerzhinskovo 24, as of March 2008, has a sign on the door (dated September 2006, no less) saying that it is closed for restoration.

Also among the Soviet concrete monstrosities, Irkutsk features street after street of atmospheric, decaying wooden buildings. Most of these are either abandoned or still used as private residences, though, and cannot be entered without permission of the owner, but provide for an atmospheric stroll down the street.

The City History Museum at Ul. Tchaikovskovo 5 has an interesting and thorough display of Irkutsk from its inception to the present day. It is currently located across the river (on the same side as the railway station) from the city center; take bus 8, 11, 23, or 25 from the Angara Hotel, although one will probably have to ask which stop to get off at. The museum is scheduled to move to a new building in the city center in Summer 2008. Closed Wednesdays and holidays.

The Geology Museum at Irkutsk State Polytechnical University has an extensive display of gems and minerals found in Siberia and the Russian Far East, even a block of asbestos under glass. From the center, take bus 3, 4, or 21 across the river to the Polytechnical University (behind the railway station); the museum itself is located in the central of the three southern wings of the university - do not enter through the main entrance, but rather walk around the outside of the building to the right.

The Irkutsk Regional Museum at Ul. Karla Marksa 2 (across from the Alexander III memorial on the Angara embankment) has an interesting ethnographic exhibit on indigeous peoples including Even and Buryats, and a display on Irkutsk in the 20th Century. Closed Mondays.

Sukachev Art Museum at Lenina 5. Probably Siberia's best collection of fine art, including several early icons, Russian secular art of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including a few works of Repin, a section of Mongolian and Chinese art, and a section of European art including a collection of lesser-known Dutch masters. Closed Tuesdays.

The Sukachev Estate at Ul. Dekabristov Sobytii 112 near the TANK bus stop. The estate of a 19th-century mayor of Irkutsk showing life of the upper classes at the time, in a series of log houses that he lived in.

Visit local Orthodox churches and Roman-Catholic church in city center.

Tucked away in the residential area of Irkutsk is a small Nerpinary. The Nerpinary is home to two Baikal seals. For a small price you can go and see these seals perform a small presentation and paint a picture! which you can even purchase after.

Do

In the winter, the central park has many ice sculptures as well as an ice castle that you can walk around in. There are ice slides in this park also. Most Russians stand up and slide on the soles of their shoes. The park is very lively at night with tourists, even though the temperatures drop well below -20 degrees C.

Hold the right hand's thumb of statue of famous Russian writer A. Vampilov, who was born near Irkutsk, which is located near Drama theather on Karl Marx street for good luck and happiness in your life. It is a new and popular tradition in Irkutsk, started from Vampilov's anniversary.

Visit Angara embankment at the end of Ul. Karla Marksa in the evening, the place for meeting of the youth.

Walk down Ul. Uritskovo, a pedestrian street with shops and cafes.