Western Siberia
The centrepiece of the tower-studded, white-walled, 18th-century kremlin is the glorious 1686 St Sofia Cathedral. Less eye-catching from the outside, but…
Must-see attractions in Western Siberia
Western Siberia
Riverside Trinity Monastery is undoubtedly Tyumen’s most appealing architectural complex. Its kremlin-style crenellated outer wall is pierced by a single…
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Western Siberia
Tobolsk's best museum, and indeed one of the best museums in Siberia, occupies a beautiful 18th-century former administration on the southwestern edge of…
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Western Siberia
Tyumen's sleek riverside promenade runs northwest from the centre almost all the way to Trinity Monastery. The promenade offers great views of the…
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Western Siberia
Minsalim is a master bone-carver who turns mammoth tusks and antler fragments into detailed figurines related to myths and legends of the local brand of…
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Western Siberia
If you only have a couple of hours to kill, take a stroll though this oasis of green just north of the train station. It contains a bust of a jolly…
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Western Siberia
The restored stone ramparts of the Kuznetsk Fortress are massive and topped with cannons, but represent only 20% of their 1810 extent. Kids ride ponies…
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Western Siberia
The Art Museum displays a lot of fussy decorative arts but the rectilinear 1862 building is a historical curiosity in itself. It was built as the Siberian…
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Western Siberia
This bell tower was built in 1799 for the Uglich bell, which famously signalled a revolt against Tsar Boris Godunov. The revolt failed; in a mad fury,…
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Western Siberia
Although the doomed writer never actually visited Novokuznetsk, he was so moved by the Soviet project to build a new city that he penned a poem starting…
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Western Siberia
The Fine Arts Museum has several rotating and permanent exhibits ranging from ornate window frames saved from the city’s old wooden houses to tiny,…
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Western Siberia
The blue Selskhoz Academy is a brick mansion that was originally a school museum. Its biggest claim to fame is being the hiding spot for Lenin during WWII…
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House-Museum of 19th- & 20th-Century History
Western Siberia
This museum contains artefacts from Tyumen’s past and is housed in the city’s finest carved cottage. The best way to experience the museum is by taking…
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Western Siberia
At the eerie 1855 Tyuremny Zamok you can get a sense of the grim life behind bars in both Tsarist and Soviet times. The Tsarist exiles were temporarily…
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Tobolsk Rayon Administration Building
Western Siberia
Less eye-catching than the Kornilov Mansion opposite, the Tobolsk Rayon Administration Building was the home-in-exile of the last tsar, before his fateful…
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Western Siberia
Flanked by the sturdy buildings of the Tyumen Oblast Parliament (Дом Советов) and the former House of Soviets (Бывший Дом Советов), now a local government…
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Western Siberia
Take a stroll in the City Park (Svetnoi Bulvar) with all the students, new mums and roller skaters. If you get peckish, grab a snack from one of the many…
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Western Siberia
The massive Assumption Cathedral was rebuilt after the collapse of the USSR. The Lenin statue that stood nearby was removed in the 2000s – rumour has it a…
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Western Siberia
The attractive Archangel Mikhail Church has a colourfully restored interior. The character of Tatiana Larina in Pushkin’s epic Eugene Onegin is said to…
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Western Siberia
To the right of Selskhoz Academy (Сельсхоз Академия), this monument is dedicated to locals who died during battles against the Western-backed White Army…
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Western Siberia
Built in 1887 for the 300th anniversary of the founding of Tobolsk, the Gubernsky Museum has displays on the history of Tobolsk, a hugely impressive and…
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Western Siberia
Lovers Bridge is a local landmark covered in appropriately romantic graffiti and a ridiculous amount of padlocks symbolising ever lasting love…
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Western Siberia
The grand Kornilov Mansion, named after a 19th-century statesman and philanthropist, is closed while being converted into a museum dedicated to the…
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Western Siberia
Wooden stairs lead beneath the kremlin’s Pryamskoy Vzvoz (gatehouse) to the wonderfully dilapidated old town full of weather-beaten churches and angled…
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Western Siberia
With its voluptuously curved baroque towers, the 1786 Znamensky Cathedral is the most memorable of a dozen ‘old’ churches that have recently come back to…
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Western Siberia
The attractive Archangel Mikhail Church sits at the top of a hill just off ul Lenina. Follow ul Turgeneva southwest behind the church to a network of back…
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Western Siberia
An apparently coal-caked Lenin and Maxim Gorky (founder of socialist realism) discuss – or plot? – something or other, next to the main post office at pr…
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Western Siberia
Guarded by two statues of Soviet workers, wielding a hammer and a plasterer’s board, the one-time cement workers’ club is now used as a cultural centre.
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Western Siberia
The glorious gold- and blue-domed 1686 centrepiece of Tobolsk's kremlin is one of the most inspiring religious buildings in Western Siberia.
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Western Siberia
The elegant Arkhiereysky Mansion was closed for renovations on our last visit and will eventually be reopened as an Orthodox history museum.
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Western Siberia
Less eye-catching from the outside than neighbouring St Sofia's Cathedral, but with splendid arched ceiling murals, is this 1746 church.
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Western Siberia
This unusual WWII monument features a Soviet woman piercing the heart of a winged reptilian creature. The embodiment of evil, we assume.
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Western Siberia
Dating from 1792, this large and elegant cathedral sits below the fortress and is worth a peak for its impressive icons and frescos.
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Western Siberia
The ornate Drama Theatre was built in the early 20th century and is one of Omsk's most attractive buildings.
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Western Siberia
The 1759 Zachary & Elisabeth Church, with its soaring black-tipped spires, is extremely photogenic.
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Western Siberia
This pleasant garden is guarded by two splendidly reverential statues of Soviet-era metalworkers.
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Western Siberia
An offshoot of the Fine Arts Museum, this building is home to changing temporary exhibitions.
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Western Siberia
Saviour’s Church is pretty enough, but unfortunately it's hardly in a peaceful location.
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