Irkutsk - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Irkutsk is a city and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast

Irkutsk Oblast

Irkutsk Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located in southeastern Siberia in the basins of Angara River, Lena, and Nizhnyaya Tunguska Rivers. The administrative center is the city of Irkutsk. Population: -History:...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, one of the largest cities in Siberia

Siberia

Siberia is an extensive region constituting almost all of Northern Asia. Comprising the central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, it was part of the Soviet Union from its beginning, as its predecessor states, the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, conquered it during the 16th...

. Population: .

History

In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a zimovye (winter quarters) near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for the collection of fur taxes

Yasak

Yasak or yasaq, sometimes iasak, is a Turkic word for "tribute" that was used in Imperial Russia to designate fur tribute exacted from the indigenous peoples of Siberia.- Origin :...

from the Buryats

Buryats

The Buryats or Buriyads , numbering approximately 436,000, are the largest ethnic minority group in Siberia and are mainly concentrated in their homeland, the Buryat Republic, a federal subject of Russia...

. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov built an ostrog
Ostrog (fortress)
Ostrog was a Russian term for a small fort, typically wooden and often non-permanently manned. Ostrogs were encircled by 4-6 metres high palisade walls made from sharpened trunks. The name derives from the Russian word строгать , "to shave the wood". Ostrogs were smaller and exclusively military...

nearby. The ostrog gained official town rights from the government in 1686. The first road connection between Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

and Irkutsk, the Siberian Road, was built in 1760. The town benefited economically from this new road. Many new products, often imported from China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

via Kyakhta

Kyakhta

Kyakhta is a town in the Republic of Buryatia, Russia, located on the Kyakhta River near the Russian-Mongolian border. Population: The town stands directly opposite the Mongolian border town of Altanbulag.-History:...

, became widely available in Irkutsk for the first time, including gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, diamond

Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...

s, fur

Fur

Fur is a synonym for hair, used more in reference to non-human animals, usually mammals; particularly those with extensives body hair coverage. The term is sometimes used to refer to the body hair of an animal as a complete coat, also known as the "pelage". Fur is also used to refer to animal...

, wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

, silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

and tea

Tea

Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...

. In 1821, as part of the Speransky

Mikhail Speransky

Count Mikhail Mikhailovich Speransky was probably the greatest of Russian reformers during the reign of Alexander I of Russia. He was a close advisor to Tsar Alexander I of Russia and later to Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, he is sometimes called the father of Russian liberalism.-Early life and...

reforms, Siberia was administratively divided at the Yenisei River

Yenisei River

Yenisei , also written as Yenisey, is the largest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. It is the central of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean...

and Irkutsk became the seat of the Governor-General of East Siberia.
In the early 19th century, many Russian artist

Artist

An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...

s, officers and nobles

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

were sent into exile

Exile

Exile means to be away from one's home , while either being explicitly refused permission to return and/or being threatened with imprisonment or death upon return...

in Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt

Decembrist revolt

The Decembrist revolt or the Decembrist uprising took place in Imperial Russia on 14 December , 1825. Russian army officers led about 3,000 soldiers in a protest against Nicholas I's assumption of the throne after his elder brother Constantine removed himself from the line of succession...

against Tsar

Tsar

Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

Nicholas I

Nicholas I of Russia

Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...

. Irkutsk became the major centre 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

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

apartment blocks that surround them.

By the end of the 19th century, there was one exiled man for every two locals. People of varying backgrounds, from members of the Decembrist uprising

Decembrist revolt

to Bolshevik

Bolshevik

The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....

s, have been in Irkutsk for many years and have greatly influenced the culture and development of the city. As a result, Irkutsk eventually became a prosperous cultural and educational centre for Eastern Siberia.

In 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 archive

Geography

The city proper lies on the Angara River

Angara River

, a tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

of the Yenisei

Yenisei River

Yenisei , also written as Yenisey, is the largest river system flowing to the Arctic Ocean. It is the central of the three great Siberian rivers that flow into the Arctic Ocean...

, 72 kilometres (44.7 mi) below its outflow from Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal is the world's oldest at 30 million years old and deepest lake with an average depth of 744.4 metres.Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, it is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the...

and on the bank opposite the suburb

Suburb

The word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...

of Glaskovsk. The river, 580 metres (1,902.9 ft) wide, is crossed by the Irkutsk Hydroelectric Dam and three other bridges downstream.

The Irkut River

Irkut River

Irkut is a river in the Buryat Republic and Irkutsk Oblast of Russia; Angara's left tributary. The length of the river is . The area of its basin is . The Irkut River freezes up in late October - mid-November and stays icebound until late April - early May. The city of Irkutsk is located at the...

, from which the town takes its name, is a smaller river that joins the Angara directly opposite the city. The main portion of the city is separated from several landmarks—the monastery

Monastery

Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

, the fort and the port

Port

A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....

, as well as its suburbs—by another tributary, the Ida (or Ushakovka) River. The two main parts of Irkutsk are customarily referred to as the "left bank" and the "right bank", with respect to the flow of the Angara river.

Irkutsk is situated in a landscape of rolling hills within the thick taiga

Taiga

Taiga , also known as the boreal forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests.Taiga is the world's largest terrestrial biome. In North America it covers most of inland Canada and Alaska as well as parts of the extreme northern continental United States and is known as the Northwoods...

that is typical of eastern Siberia.

According to the regional plan, Irkutsk city will be combined with its neighboring industrial towns of Shelekhov

Shelekhov

Shelekhov is a town in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, located southwest of Irkutsk. Population: It was founded in the early 1950s due to the construction of an aluminum plant. In 1956, it was named Shelekhov after a Russian explorer Grigory Shelekhov. For some reason, the authorities used the incorrect ...

and Angarsk

Angarsk

Angarsk is a city in Irkutsk Oblast, Russia, situated on the Angara River, from Moscow. It serves as the administrative center of Angarsky District, although it is not administratively a part of it. Population:...

to form a metropolitan area with a total population of over a million.

Climate

Irkutsk has a borderline subarctic climate

Subarctic climate

The subarctic climate is a climate characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the moderating effects of an ocean, generally at latitudes from 50° to 70°N poleward of the humid continental climates...

(Köppen climate classification Dwc), just short of a humid continental climate

Humid continental climate

A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....

(Köppen climate classification

Köppen climate classification

The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...

Dwb), characterized by extreme variation of temperatures between seasons. Temperatures can be very warm in the summer, and very cold in the winter. However, Lake Baikal takes its effect, such that temperatures in Irkutsk are not as extreme as elsewhere in Siberia. The warmest month of the year in Irkutsk is July, when the mean temperature is 18 °C (64.4 °F), the highest temperature recorded being 37 °C (98.6 °F). The coldest month of the year is January, when the mean temperature is −19 C. Precipitation

Precipitation (meteorology)

In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...

also varies widely throughout the year, with the wettest month also being July, when precipitation averages 119 millimetres (4.7 in). The driest month is February, when precipitation averages only 7.6 millimetre (0.299212598425197 in). Almost all precipitation during the Siberian winter falls as fluffy, low moisture content snow.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

of Irkutsk features an old symbol of Dauria: a Siberian tiger with a sable

Sable

The sable is a species of marten which inhabits forest environments, primarily in Russia from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, in northern Mongolia and China and on Hokkaidō in Japan. Its range in the wild originally extended through European Russia to Poland and Scandinavia...

in his mouth. When the coat of arms was devised in 1690, the animal was described as a tiger ("babr", a bookish word of Persian derivation) with a sable

Sable

in his mouth. This image had been used by the Yakutsk

Yakutsk

With a subarctic climate , Yakutsk is the coldest city, though not the coldest inhabited place, on Earth. Average monthly temperatures range from in July to in January. The coldest temperatures ever recorded on the planet outside Antarctica occurred in the basin of the Yana River to the northeast...

customs office from about 1642. It has its origin in a seal of the Siberia Khanate

Siberia Khanate

The Khanate of Sibir were the patrilineal descendants of Shayban , the fifth son of Jochi and grandson of Genghis Khan. The Khanate had an ethnically diverse population of Siberian Tatars, Khanty, Mansi, Nenets and Selkup people. Along with the Khanate of Kazan it was the northernmost Muslim state....

representing a sable and showcasing the fact that Siberia (or rather Yugra

Yugra

Yugra was the name of the lands between the Pechora River and Northern Urals in the Russian annals of the 12th–17th centuries, as well as the name of the Khanty and partly Mansi tribes inhabiting these territories, later known as VogulsThe Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug of Russia is also...

) was the main source of sable fur throughout the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

. (Actually, the English word "sable" is derived from the Russian "sobol").

By the mid-19th century, the word "babr" had fallen out of common usage, but it was still recorded in the Armorial of the Russian Empire. Furthermore, the tigers became extinct in this part of Siberia. In the 1870s, a high-placed French heraldist with a limited command of Russian assumed that "babr" was a misspelling of "bobr", the Russian word for "beaver

Beaver

The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...

", and changed the wording accordingly. This modification engendered a long dispute between the local authorities, who were so confused by the revised description that they started to depict the "babr" as a fabulous animal, half-tiger and half-beaver.

The Soviets abolished the image altogether, but it was restored following the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

Energy

The 662.4 MW Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station

Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station

The Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power Station is an earthen embankment dam on the Angara River with an adjacent hydroelectric power station. It is located adjacent to Irkutsk, Irkutsk Oblast in Russia and is the first dam on the Angara cascades. Construction on the dam began in 1950, its reservoir began...

was the first cascade hydroelectric power station in the Irkutsk region. The building of the dam was started in 1950 and finished in 1958.

Industry

The most famous large-scale industry in Irkutsk is Irkut (company)

Irkut (company)

Irkut Corporation is a Russian aircraft manufacturer, member of the United Aircraft Corporation. It is best known as being the manufacturer of the Sukhoi Su-30 family of interceptor/ground-attack aircraft....

. Irkut refers to the Irkutsk Aviation Industrial Association, it was set up in 1932 in the Transbaykal region of the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

. It is best known as being the manufacturer of the Su-30 family of interceptor

Interceptor aircraft

An interceptor aircraft is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically to prevent missions of enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Interceptors generally rely on high speed and powerful armament in order to complete their mission as quickly as possible and set up...

/ground-attack aircraft. The Russian government is planning to merge Irkut with Ilyushin
Ilyushin
Open Joint Stock Company «Ilyushin Aviation Complex» , operating as Ilyushin or Ilyushin Design Bureau, is a Russian design bureau and aircraft manufacturer, founded by Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin. Ilyushin was established under the Soviet Union. Its operations began on January 13, 1933, by...

, Mikoyan
Mikoyan
Russian Aircraft Corporation MiG , or RSK MiG, is a Russian joint stock company. Formerly Mikoyan-and-Gurevich Design Bureau , then simply Mikoyan, it is a military aircraft design bureau, primarily designing fighter aircraft...

, Sukhoi
Sukhoi
Sukhoi Company is a major Russian aircraft manufacturer, headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, famous for its fighters...

, Tupolev
Tupolev
Tupolev is a Russian aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Basmanny District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Known officially as Public Stock Company Tupolev, it is the successor of the Tupolev OKB or Tupolev Design Bureau headed by the Soviet aerospace engineer A.N. Tupolev...

, and Yakovlev
Yakovlev
The Yak Aircraft Corporation is a Russian aircraft designer and manufacturer...

as a new company named United Aircraft Building Corporation.

There is Irkutsk Aluminium Smelter which belongs to the Rusal Company.http://www.rusal.ru/en/irkaz_factory.aspx

Transport

Important roads and railways like the Trans-Siberian Highway

Trans-Siberian Highway

The Trans-Siberian Highway is the unofficial name for a network of federal highways that span the width of Russia from the Baltic Sea of the Atlantic Ocean to the Japan Sea of the Pacific Ocean. In the Asian Highway Network, the route is known as AH6. It stretches over from St. Petersburg to...

(Federal M53 and M55 Highways) and Trans-Siberian Railway

Trans-Siberian Railway

The Trans-Siberian Railway is a network of railways connecting Moscow with the Russian Far East and the Sea of Japan. It is the longest railway in the world...

connect Irkutsk to other regions in Russia and Mongolia

Mongolia

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia. It is bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south, east and west. Although Mongolia does not share a border with Kazakhstan, its western-most point is only from Kazakhstan's eastern tip. Ulan Bator, the capital and largest...

. Also, the city is served by the Irkutsk International Airport

Irkutsk International Airport

Irkutsk Airport is an airport in the centre of Irkutsk, Russia. As of 2006, a new passenger terminal is nearing completion...

and the smaller Irkutsk Northwest Airport

Irkutsk Northwest Airport

Irkutsk Northwest Airport is an airport in Russia located 11 km northwest of Irkutsk. It is a civilian airfield with maintenance hangars, and features a very spartan taxiway pattern....

.

The Federal road and railway to Moscow

Moscow

and Vladivostok

Vladivostok

The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...

pass through the other side of the Angara River from downtown

Downtown

Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....

Irkutsk.

Television and mass media

There are many state and privately owned television stations in Irkutsk, including state IGTRK company http://irkutsk.rfn.ru and private ones http://as.baikal.tv AS Baikal TV, TV company AIST http://www.aisttv.ru, TV company Gorod http://www.gorodtv.ru, and e.g. http://www.vsp.ru VSP newspaper agency.
Irkutsk live webcamera inlc. life temperature in city center: http://as.baikal.tv/webcam/

Education

Irkutsk is home to East Siberian Education Academy

Irkutsk State Pedagogical College

Irkutsk State Pedagogical College, also called Irkutsk State Teacher Training University was founded in 1909 in Irkutsk, Siberia as the University for training intending teachers for schools and colleges. Now the University consists of 9 faculties and there are over 35 specialities. In 2009, it...

(since 1909), Irkutsk State University

Irkutsk State University

Irkutsk State University was founded in October 1918 in Irkutsk, Siberia.At present, the University consists of 10 faculties, 4 educational institutions and 2 branches. Over 18 thousand students including 300 foreign students from 27 countries study at University in 52 specialties. More than 620...

(1918), Irkutsk State Medical University (1918), Baykalsky State University of Economics and Law

Baykalsky State University of Economics and Law

Baikal National University of Economics and Law is a Russian state educational institution of higher professional learning which provides under-graduate, graduate, post-graduate and advanced education in Economics, Management, Law, Applied Computer Science in Economics, Journalism, Psychology and...

(since 1932), Irkutsk State Technical University

Irkutsk State Technical University

Irkutsk State Technical University is a technical university in Russia.-1930:Irkutsk State Technical University was established as Siberian Mining Institute comprising three faculties: mining, geological faculties and faculty of metallurgy...

(since 1939), Irkutsk State Academy of Agriculture, Irkutsk State Linguistic University

Irkutsk State Linguistic University

Irkutsk State Linguistic University is a university in Irkutsk, Siberia in eastern Russia founded in 1948....

(1948), Irkutsk State Railway Transport University (since 1975), and a number of private colleges: Siberian Institute of Law, Economics and Management (since 1993), Institute of Economics of ISTU (since 1996), and others.

Science

As part of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Russian Academy of Sciences

The Russian Academy of Sciences consists of the national academy of Russia and a network of scientific research institutes from across the Russian Federation as well as auxiliary scientific and social units like libraries, publishers and hospitals....

there are nine research institutes located in the Irkutsk Academgorodok suburb: Institute of Geography, Energy Systems Institute, Institute of Geochemistry, Institute of Systems Dynamics and Control Theory, Earth's Crust Institute, solar-terrestrial physics institute, Institute of Chemistry, Institute of Limnology (located on lake Baikal's shore), Institute of Plants Physics, Laser Physics Institute (Branch of the Novosibirsk-based Institute).
A number of institutes conduct research within Irkutsk State University

Irkutsk State University

: Institute of Biology, Institute of Oil and Coal Chemistry and Synthesis, Laboratory of Quantum Chemistry, Institute of Applied Physics, Interregional Institute of Social Studies, Astronomical Observatory, and Botanical Gardens.
The East-Siberian Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences is also located in Irkutsk and is represented by the following research organizations: Scientific Center for medical Ecology, Institute for Paediatrics and Human Reproduction, Institute for Microbiology and Epidemiology, Institute for Medicine of the Workplace and Human Ecology, Institute of Reconstructive and Restorative Surgery, Institute of Surgery, and Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics. Also, the Fyodorov Eye Microsurgery Scientific and Technical Center has a branch in Irkutsk.
Additionally, there are R&D institutes including GAZPROM

Gazprom

Open Joint Stock Company Gazprom is the largest extractor of natural gas in the world and the largest Russian company. Its headquarters are in Cheryomushki District, South-Western Administrative Okrug, Moscow...

R&D Institute (Branch of Moscow-based Institute), Irkutsk Institute of Rare and Precious Metals and Diamonds.

Literature

Irkutsk has long been home to the well-known Russian writer Valentin Rasputin

Valentin Rasputin

Valentin Grigoriyevich Rasputin is a Russian writer. He was born and lived much of his life in the Irkutsk Oblast in Eastern Siberia. Rasputin's works depict rootless urban characters and the fight for survival of centuries-old traditional rural ways of life...

; many of his novels and stories take place in the Angara

Angara River

Valley. An essay on the cultural history of Irkutsk (and another one about the nearby Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

) is included in Rasputin's non-fiction collection Siberia, Siberia

Siberia, Siberia

Siberia, Siberia is a non-fiction book by the Russian writer Valentin Rasputin. It was originally published in Russian in 1991 by Molodaya Gvardiya Publishers. The second and third editions appeared in 2000 and 2006; an English translation is available as well.Rasputin is a Russian novelist based...

, which is also available in English translation.

Museums

The Taltsy Museum , located on the Angara 47 kilometres (29.2 mi) south of Irkutsk, is an open-air museum of Siberian traditional architecture

Vernacular architecture

Vernacular architecture is a term used to categorize methods of construction which use locally available resources and traditions to address local needs and circumstances. Vernacular architecture tends to evolve over time to reflect the environmental, cultural and historical context in which it...

. 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.
The Botanic Garden of the Irkutsk State University known as the "Irkutsk Botanic Garden" is the only botanic garden as a living museum

Museum

in Irkutsk Oblast and Baikalian Siberia

Siberia

. Its mission is "to protect and enrich the flora of the Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

area and the world for people through public education, collection, propagation, research, and conservation of plants". The garden is principally an educational and scientific tool for the Irkutsk State University

Irkutsk State University

and maintains largest plant collection of living plants in Eastern Siberia

Siberia

(more than 5000 plant taxa), a herbarium, and a seed bank. It occupies 27 hectares within Irkutsk city, 70 kilometers west of Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal

. It has a status of the federal strictly protected land and a nature memorial of Irkutsk.

Sports

Bandy

Bandy is a team winter sport played on ice, in which skaters use sticks to direct a ball into the opposing team's goal.The rules of the game have many similarities to those of association football: the game is played on a rectangle of ice the same size as a football field. Each team has 11 players,...

is a very big sport in the city. There are several clubs, and the best one, Baykal-Energiya in the highest division of Russian Bandy League, can draw spectator crowds of 30 000.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI7DHW6S2uc It's also the centre of women's bandy in Russia with the club Rekord.http://www.bandynet.ru/files/mimages/IMG_0409.jpg

Sister cities/twin Cities

Irkutsk has the following sister/twin city

Town twinning

Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

relationships: Ulan Bator, Mongolia

Mongolia

Shenyang

Shenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...

, China

China

Kanazawa

Kanazawa, Ishikawa

is the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.-Geography, climate, and population:Kanazawa sits on the Sea of Japan, bordered by the Japan Alps, Hakusan National Park and Noto Peninsula National Park. The city sits between the Sai and Asano rivers. Its total area is 467.77 km².Kanazawa's...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

Eugene

Eugene, Oregon

Eugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Novi Sad

Novi Sad is the capital of the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, and the administrative centre of the South Bačka District. The city is located in the southern part of Pannonian Plain on the Danube river....

, Serbia

Serbia

Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

Pforzheim

Pforzheim is a town of nearly 119,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It is world-famous for its jewelry and watch-making industry. Until 1565 it was the home to the Margraves of Baden. Because of that it gained the nickname...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

Évian-les-Bains

Évian-les-Bains or Évian is a commune in the northern part of the Haute-Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

Strömsund

Strömsund is a locality and the seat of Strömsund Municipality in Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,516 inhabitants in 2005.-Tourism:Strömsund is famous for being pictured in famous Swedish movie Dunderklumpen....

, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

Pordenone

Pordenone is a comune of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region.The name comes from the Latin "Portus Naonis" meaning the port on the river Noncello - History :...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

Grenoble

Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...

, France Dijon

Dijon

Dijon is a city in eastern France, the capital of the Côte-d'Or département and of the Burgundy region.Dijon is the historical capital of the region of Burgundy. Population : 151,576 within the city limits; 250,516 for the greater Dijon area....

, France

Additional sources

Brumfield, William. Irkutsk: Architectural Heritage in Photographs // Moscow: Tri Kvadrata Publishing, 2006. ISBN 9785946070614 Her Majesty — Queen of Siberia // Publishers Korobov. — Irkutsk, 2008.

External links

Official website of Irkutsk
Flickr photos tagged irkutsk
Irkutsk in old and modern photos
Travel to Irkutsk
Baikal Club (in English) Articles about lake Baikal by different people from all over the world.
Irkutsk city architecture views
Bandy video
Irkutsk: cultural crossroads in Russian Asia
Russia - Siberia - Irkutsk - photo galleries
Irkutsk Webcam Live

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