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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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,…
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…
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,…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Western Siberia
Lovers Bridge is a local landmark covered in appropriately romantic graffiti and a ridiculous amount of padlocks symbolising ever lasting love…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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.
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.
Western Siberia
The elegant Arkhiereysky Mansion was closed for renovations on our last visit and will eventually be reopened as an Orthodox history museum.
Western Siberia
Less eye-catching from the outside than neighbouring St Sofia's Cathedral, but with splendid arched ceiling murals, is this 1746 church.
Western Siberia
This unusual WWII monument features a Soviet woman piercing the heart of a winged reptilian creature. The embodiment of evil, we assume.
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.
Western Siberia
The ornate Drama Theatre was built in the early 20th century and is one of Omsk's most attractive buildings.
Western Siberia
The 1759 Zachary & Elisabeth Church, with its soaring black-tipped spires, is extremely photogenic.
Western Siberia
This pleasant garden is guarded by two splendidly reverential statues of Soviet-era metalworkers.
Western Siberia
An offshoot of the Fine Arts Museum, this building is home to changing temporary exhibitions.
Western Siberia
Saviour’s Church is pretty enough, but unfortunately it's hardly in a peaceful location.
