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Lake Baikal

Irkutsk lies at the southern end of Lake Baikal, at the confluence of the Angara and Irkut rivers, and is the capital of Irkutsk Oblast. The city is divided into four parts by the Angara, Irkut and Ushakovka rivers.
The name Irkutsk means "town on the Irkut." After a fortress was built by a Cossack expedition in 1652, it served as a relay point for Russian caravans heading to China and Mongolia, and functioned as a base for exploring the interior of Siberia and the Far East.

After receiving city status in 1686, it developed as a center for developing Siberia, rich in natural resources.
In the 18th century it became a place of exile for young officers called the Decembrists, and the culture and arts they brought from the then capital, Saint Petersburg, had a great influence on Irkutsk. Gorgeous stone buildings modeled on Saint Petersburg, cutting-edge technology and art took root in Irkutsk.
Educational facilities were also developed, and a Japanese language school, with shipwrecked Japanese as teachers, was founded in the mid-18th century. Present-day Irkutsk still preserves many streets and historic buildings of the time, and many wooden buildings decorated with traditional Russian carved window frames remain, leaving a beautiful cityscape.
Today Irkutsk is a transport hub connecting northern Siberia, where mineral resources are being developed, rapidly developing China and Mongolia, and the Russian Far East, whose ties with Japan are growing closer, with Moscow and on to Europe. Irkutsk now has a population of 670,000 and has grown into Siberia's largest industrial city, with some 70 major industries including machine building, sawmilling, furniture, food and construction.

The largest shares come from thermal and hydroelectric power, the automobile industry, metallurgy, aviation, timber and building materials. The world-famous fur industry also supplies sable and other furs to the world market. Irkutsk is a major academic city, with Irkutsk State University, the first founded in Eastern Siberia, the Second Science Center of the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences, and the Limnological Institute on Lake Baikal, and students make up 10 percent of the population.
Citizens' cultural and artistic activities are also lively, with well-developed facilities such as theaters, cinemas and libraries.
Irkutsk preserves many 19th century wooden houses, churches and other buildings, was added to the World Monuments Fund list in 1997, and is also described as the "Paris of Siberia." Irkutsk has 685 surviving historic monuments, of which 108 are designated national monuments.
Of particular interest, the area around Kirov Park, next to Amurskaya Street, is the oldest district of Irkutsk, with historic buildings such as the Spasskaya Church, the Bogoyavlensky Cathedral, the statue of Alexander III and the Regional Museum (formerly the Siberian branch of the Russian Geographical Society).
There are also the Decembrists' House Museums (the "Volkonsky House Museum" and the "Trubetskoy House Museum"), the most culturally and historically important in Irkutsk.

Lake Baikal, called the "Pearl of Siberia" or the "Blue Eye of Siberia," boasts the greatest depth and the highest transparency in the world. It is 1,741 m deep, with a transparency of 41 m, and is an extremely large lake, 47 times the size of Lake Biwa. Lake Baikal is thought to have formed 25 million years ago, one of the few ancient lakes in the world. Lakes usually live for around 10,000 to 15,000 years and shrink with sediment, but Lake Baikal still continues to grow about 2 cm a year.
One of the unique features of Lake Baikal is the animals and plants that live there. Of the 2,635 species of animals and plants living in Lake Baikal, about 70% are endemic to this lake.
Especially famous is the Baikal seal, a freshwater seal found only in Lake Baikal. This seal was originally a marine animal, thought to have traveled up the Yenisei and Angara rivers and eventually adapted to fresh water. Lake Baikal, also called the "lake of miracles," was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1996. Endemic fish such as the golomyanka (the most numerous fish in Lake Baikal) and the omul are also well known, and the omul, resembling salmon and trout, is a familiar fish on local tables.
Lake Baikal is Russia's proud World Heritage Site, holding about 20% of the world's fresh water. The lake is so large that locals call it a "sea," and in winter it freezes over completely. The ice is more than 1 m thick and cars drive across the lake.

Lake Baikal Museum
This museum opens a research institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences to the public. Near the Baikal Hotel is a museum displaying materials on the animals, plants and minerals of the Lake Baikal area. The first floor is an aquarium, and the second floor has exhibits on geology, biology and ecology. It is the best spot for learning about Lake Baikal in depth. At the attached aquarium you can also see Baikal seals and omul.

Kirov Square

A park named in memory of the revolutionary Kirov, who spent a year here from 1908. Surrounded by buildings such as the Irkutsk Oblast government, a church and a linguistics university, with a beautiful fountain in the center, it is a place of rest for citizens. It has long been the center of Irkutsk and is the oldest district in the city. Nearby are the Spasskaya Church and the Bogoyavlensky Cathedral. It was once called "Kremlin Square" because a kremlin (fortress) stood nearby. In winter it is decorated with Christmas trees and various ice sculptures.

Bogoyavlensky Cathedral
Bogoyavlensky Cathedral is the church next to the Spasskaya Church, said to have been founded in the late 17th century and one of the oldest churches in Irkutsk. Despite repeated great earthquakes and fires, it has kept its form to the present. It is famous as the largest church in Irkutsk and a popular spot visited by many tourists. The highlights are the frescoes and icons inside the church. In the Soviet era it was used as a confectionery factory, and after perestroika it is said to have been restored over 18 years.

Irkutsk Regional Museum
One of the oldest museums in Russia, opened in 1782. It burned down in 1879 and was rebuilt in its present form in 1891. It has exhibits on the history of the Irkutsk region from the Paleolithic, before Irkutsk was founded, to the present. Tableware, folk costumes, toys and more of almost all the minority peoples living in Siberia are displayed. Written materials on Russia's 17th century advance into Siberia are preserved as especially valuable documents, and the number of exhibits now exceeds 300,000.

Spasskaya Church
The oldest church in the city center, a Russian Orthodox church with white walls and green domes beautifully standing on the north side of Kirov Square, built in 1710. It is the second oldest stone building built in Irkutsk, and the oldest surviving stone building in Eastern Siberia. The bell tower was added between 1850 and 1860. In the early 19th century both the inside and outside were decorated with frescoes. The Irkutsk volunteers who took part in the Napoleonic War of 1812 prayed at this church before heading to the front. Today it is a museum, and together with the neighboring Bogoyavlensky Cathedral it is designated an important cultural property of Russia.

Irkutsk Sightseeing Spot: 130 Kvartal
Even in Siberia, Irkutsk has preserved traditional wooden buildings.This 130 Kvartal is an area recreating Old Irkutsk, lined with shops, cafes and restaurants modeled on that architectural style. Start from the "Babr statue," which is also the city emblem, and walk to the busiest mall, Kvartal. According to materials, this street was redeveloped from 2008 to 2011 to commemorate the 350th anniversary of the city of Irkutsk, recreating the old streets that existed from the early 18th century.