Irkutsk, Lake Baikal: wonders in remote Siberia

Why Irkutsk in Ultima Thule, being so distant from any sea, impossible to reach in a sailing journey?
I can't give an answer to that. Because I wish I could go there someday, perhaps. Because Irkutsk makes me dream.
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The final destiny of Michel Strogoff's adventure became a lively and attractive town.

Coordinates: 82°18′ N, 104°17′ E
Population: ~ 800 000

Located in deep Siberia, where the Angara river starts from the Baikal lake, Irkutsk was founded in 1652 by the cossacs and developped as a fur trade outpost, and later as the center of a gold rush in the 19th century. Wealthy families competed in richly decorating their wooden houses, as we will see.

With the trans-siberian railroad in 1898 came wider trading and industry. Looking at a map, you see how far the town was from any civilization center, and from the sea. The arrival of the trans-siberian was a turning point in the life of Irkutsk. After a dark, depressing era as an exile and deportation site during Stalin reign, Irkutsk is now a coloured University town, with museums, theaters, opera, symphonic orchestra, parks and promenades.

Irkutsk, the "Paris of Siberia".

To start, a very beautiful Railroad Station:

Иркутск =Irkutsk

Then, take a tram to the town center.

The Irkutsk Kremlin

« (...) avec ses coupoles, ses clochetons, ses flèches élancées comme des minarets, ses dômes ventrus comme des potiches japonaises, elle prend un aspect quelque peu oriental. La ville, moitié byzantine, moitié chinoise, redevient européenne par ses rues macadamisées, bordées de trottoirs, traversées de canaux, plantées de bouleaux gigantesques, par ses maisons de briques et de bois, dont quelques-unes ont plusieurs étages,(...) enfin par toute une catégorie d’habitants très-avancés dans les progrès de la civilisation et auxquels les modes les plus nouvelles de Paris ne sont point étrangères.»

Michel Strogoff, Jules Verne

The Epiphany Cathedral, built in 1718, was restored from a fire in 1815.

The golden bulbs of the ortodox Epiphany Cathedral shine in the morning sun.

Built in the russian baroque style, it's façade is decorated with full-body icons of the saints and golden frames, thus gaining an uncommon coloured look.

The Church of Our Saviour , the oldest stone building in Siberia (1706), now a museum:

At any corner you can find interesting architecture:

The Irkutsk Ethnographic Museum (1782):

http://www.museum.irkutsk.ru/


The Fine Art Museum - Sukachev collection.
Siberia's best collection оf fine art, including several early icons, Russian art оf the 18th, 19th, аnd 20th centuries, including а few works оf Repin.

The perfect dacha for a retreat in deep Siberia.

The Drama theater (1894)

Chekov wrote, in "Letters from Siberia":

«Irkutsk is an intelligent and refined city. (...) It's definitely Europe !»

But an unique issue in Irkutsk is the amazing quantity and variety of wooden architecture, typical of traditional house building in Siberia. Hundreds of them still remain, some in ruins, many restored, dating from the 18th and 19th century:

The "Europe House", built in late 19th century for a rich merchant family. Now, the Tourist Office works here.



" Your gaze scans the streets as if they were written pages: the city says everything you must think."

The Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino


The wood is pine or cedar, and for strong foundations the very resistent siberian larch.




Like wooden lacing.



Well, why "the Paris of Siberia" ? Because in the shopping area you can find the latest nouveautés from Paris, or you could: today there are mostly international brands and some few local boutiques.

Ul. Uritskogo, the first ever pedestrian street in Russia.

Boutiques and international shops line along Ul. Uritskogo.

New shops and a terrace café in Sedova street.


The Irkutsk market is an ethnic mosaic rich of colours, scents and savours.

Lake Baikal

« Une immense nappe d’eau se déroulait aux pieds de Michel Strogoff.C’était le lac Baïkal.»

The Baikal lake is fed by crystal clear water from glaciers and some 300 fastflowing rivers. Its pristine water is said to be the most transparent in the world.

The trans-siberian along southern Baikal.

It's the deepest lake on earth (1600 m), containing 20% (1/5 !) of the world's freshwater. For 636 km of almost intact coastline, you can find beaches, capes, cliffs, bays, forest - each one unmissable in any other part of the world.


The climatic influence of the lake is also remarkable: in this continental region of deep cold and very hot temperatures (-50º, +37º records ), the temperature around the lake is much smoother.


Cape Burkhan, one of the most visited sites, and a summer paradise.


The Baikal lake is rich in semi-precious stones -  jade, lapis-lazuli, jasper...


At Irkutsk, several options for excursions are offered : some by train (the Baikal Express line tours around the lake), some by boat.

The traditional siberian village Listvyanka, where the typical wooden houses are well preserved, is also worth a visit :

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The picture above, starting this post, is Crossing the Angara at Irkutsk, by Nikolai F. Dobrovolsky (1886). .