History
Irkutsk
- Severobaikal'sk - Ulan- Udè
IRKUTSK – HISTORY OF A TOWN
Lovingly called Paris of Siberia, Irkutsk, with its 640000
inhabitants, is the capital of Siberia. Even if it is 60 km distant from Lake
Baikal, it is always associated with the lake.
Irkutsk is commonly believed to be almost three and a half centuries old, but
the modern history has many moot points and knotty problems. One of the most
disputable is still the time and circumstances of the city foundation. In 1652,
Russian Kazaks were migrating upwards the Angara stream. They installed their
winter camp on the Dyachiy Island at the mouth of the Irkut River, which flows
into the Angara River. The only documentarily confirmed date of the Irkutsk
burg construction contains the report of the boyar son Yakov Pokhabov from Yenisey
dated the 6th of July 1661. The settlement grew fast, came into the status of
town with 1000 inhabitants in 1686, and became the centre of Russian expansion
in the Baikal region. In the early 18th century, Irkutsk turned out to be the
focus of the various Siberian trades. The Angara on the one hand connected it
to the rest of Siberia, on the other hand opened the expanses of Transbaikal,
to Mongolia steppes and further on to the Chinese border. In 1760, the town
was connected to the “Track of Moscow”, the main track through the
vast Russian Empire that connected all commercial centres in the distance of
usual daytrips. Main items of trade between Russia and China were tea, fur,
spices and silk. From Irkutsk, further expeditions, conquers to China, and to
Alaska were organized. The Russian group of explorers, settlers and traders,
which passed the Street of Bering in 1761, started from Irkutsk. As well as
St. Petersburg turned out to be the window to the West, Irkutsk became the economic
and administrative window to the East.
The administrative reform in 1764 divided Siberia into an East-Siberia (Irkutsk
as capital) and into a West-Siberia (Tobol’sk as capital) with the Yenisey
River as dividing line. In the 19th century, Irkutsk became the largest city
in Siberia.
The failed revolt against the tsar in St. Petersburg in December 1825 was indirect
the reason for a social progress in the Baikal region. The intellectual and
noble rebels, called Decembrists, were deported into the mines and the forts
of the eastern Baikal area to do compulsory labour. The return of the condemned
rebels to Europe was refused, and so they had to stay in Siberia – most
of them went to Irkutsk and participated actively in its intellectual and cultural
development. Eighteen fifty seven a ferry over the Angara was inaugurated and
the enlargement of the city continued on the other side of the river. The town
boomed as a description from 1875 tells “in no other town you can find
as many luxury articles and glamorous societies as in Irkutsk. Literature, science,
and arts were dominating the all-day life; Irkutsk was the first town in Siberia”.
A black day in the towns’ history was the town fire of the 22nd to 24th
July 1879 that destroyed 3000 wooden and 100 brick houses. After 1880, the whole
centre was redesigned in brick construction. The governor from Irkutsk was the
one who strived since 1852 for the connection of the town to the Great Siberian
Railway (popular name Tran Siberian Railway). Finally, it was Tsar Alexander
II in 1890 who confirmed the need for the railway construction. He sent his
son Nikolaj to Vladivostok to lay the foundation stone in May 1891. The first
train from St. Petersburg arrived in Irkutsk on 28th August 1898. Already one
year later, the railway along the Angara to Port Baikal was inaugurated.
The tsar was far from Irkutsk, even though the consequences of the overthrow
arrived very fast at the Baikal. After hard fights, the Soviet government was
proclaimed in Irkutsk on 30th December 1917. The partisans to the former Bolshevistic
government showed resistance – two years of disorder and civil war were
the consequence. Many monuments in the town remember the fallen Soviet soldiers.
Stalin pushed the industrialization of the Irkutsk region. One analysed the
possibilities to set up a hydropower plant at the Angara. Parts of the new plane
construction industries settled in Irkutsk. Since 1929, Moscow and Irkutsk were
connected by a regular air service. Further industries were the timber, paper,
cellulose and fish manufacturing, as well as mining and ore production. Soviet
regime was fighting the religion violently – churches and Buddhists temples
were either closed or destroyed. Priests, monks and shamans were killed. In
the 1930ies, Irkutsk counted 240000 inhabitants. The hydropower plant in the
Angara was inaugurated in 1958; this was the reason for the installation of
an oil-refinery in Angarsk and an aluminium producing company in Selechov. With
the dam, the exploration of the water resources of the Baikal began. Eight turbines
produce 360000 kW of electric energy. The dam construction had lasting consequences:
the water level of the Angara rose by 30 meters, that from Lake Baikal by 1
meter. Many villages between Irkusk and Listjanka were flooded and the ecological
consequences were enormous.
The largest enterprise is the local energy provider Irkutsk-energo.
The University of Irkutsk first opened its doors on 27th October 1918 with two
faculties, one for law and one for history. Until 1930, the university was called
“Institute for Mining and Metallurgy” - later on, it was combined
with other scientific institutes and was further called “Polytechnic Institute”.
Since 1993, it is called “National Technical University of Irkutsk”.
[The National Technical University of Irkutsk]
Nowadays, the university covers eleven faculties with a total
number of up to 18000 students; it is located on a hill outside the centre on
the other side of the Angara. One third of the students get a scholarship, the
other two-thirds have to pay relatively high study fees that contribute to the
financing of the university.
[ The Campus of the National Technical University of Irkutsk]
IRKUTSK NOWADAYS
[City map of Irkutsk]
1 - Airport
2 - Train station
3 - Marine port
4 - Dam
5 - Bridge over the Angara (construction)
6 - Museum Boat “Angara”
7 - Museum for Town history
8 - Geological museum
The main road of Irkutsk is the Karl-Marx-Street, which starts
at the Angara at the Tsars’ Monument. This monument of Tsar Alexander
III was destroyed during the Russian revolution and was finally rebuilt in 2003.
[ Monument of Tsar Alexander III]
Looking from the monument toward the centre, one has on its
right hand side the Town Historical and Ethnological Museum of Irkutsk. Unfortunately,
for western tourists, all the explanations are in Russian.
On the left hand side, one can see the White House. Built by a business person
from 1800-1804, the classicist building covers today the library of the university.
After 500 meters in direction of the town centre, one will see on the right
the renovated City Drama Theatre.
[The renovated City Drama Theatre]
On the same side, the large “Trud Stadium” (Trud
means work) follows where about 18000 spectators can watch their team working.
In front of the theatre, on the other side of the road, the large building with
six impressive pillars is the headquarter of the East Siberian Railway Administration
built in 1850. A bit further, close to the Angara, the “Grey House”
is the seat of the Territorial Administration.
[The “Grey House” is the seat of the Territorial Administration]
On the place in front of the Grey House, a monument built
in 1975, The Eternal Flame, remembers the fallen Siberian soldiers during World
War II.
On the riverside of the Angara, one can see the confluence of the Irkut River
and the Angara.
[Confluence of the Irkut River and the Angara]
In this area of the town, three of seven churches resisted
the demolition. Many restaurants, bars and shops are located in the centre in
and around the pedestrian zone that leads to the main shopping mall. Beside
the mall, one can discover a symbiosis of market and bazaar. Many richly decorated
wooden houses from the 19th century can be discovered in the centre. The wooden
carvings and ornaments were symbol for wealth and symbolized at the same time
the power to fight back evil. Only with a lot of imagination, one can see the
charm of those houses because most of them are in a pitiful condition.
The “Junost Island” is the island of youth – located in the
Angara. It is the place to be on warm summer evenings. Bars, fountains and discotheques
attract not only Siberians.
[ City centre of Irkutsk with its highlights]
1 - Train station
2 - Bus station
3 - Territorial Administration
4 - Tsar’s Monument
5 - White House
6 - City Drama Theatre
7 - Administration of East Siberian Railway
8 - Philharmonic
9 - Theatre for music
10 - Theatre of Youth
11 - National Museum
12 - Museum for Natural Sciences
13 - Museum of the Decembrists
14 - Museum of the Decembrists
15 - Gallery for Siberian Art
16 - Gallery of the Artists’ Association
17 - Cross-Church
18 - Saviour-Church
19 - God’s Epiphany Church
20 - Catholic Church
21 - Whitsun Church
22 - Park railway (+museum)
23 - Pedestrian zone
24 - Market
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