Irkutsk travel guide

Irkutsk residents call their city the capital of Eastern Siberia and simply «the middle of the earth». It is equally far from the Northern and southern oceans, to the Western and Eastern capitals. However, there is absolutely no provincial dullness and grayness. On the contrary, it is a bright, joyful and very Sunny city.

Памятник первопроходцам Сибири

В 1661 году на берег реки Ангара высадился отряд русского землепроходца Якова Пахабова и по приказу воеводы Енисейска поставил острог на правом берегу Ангары. На месте, откуда взял начало город Иркутск, к 350-летию Иркутска был установлен памятник основателям Сибири.

Moscow Gates

Standing on Irkutsk's lower embankment of the Angara is a triumphal arch which is known as the Moskovskie or Moscow Gates as it marks the entrance to the city if coming from the European part of Russia. Construction of the gates began in 1811 to mark the 10 year anniversary of Emperor Alexander I's reign. It was the first “Moscow Gates” in Russia. In 2009 on the 350th anniversary of Irkutsk work began on reconstructing the Moscow Gates which were finally opened in 2011.