Clockwise, from the upper right corner: Clock Tower, Picture Gallery, Irkutsk panorama from the dam, Local Lore Museum, Khudozhestvenny Cinema, Kazan Church
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Many distinguished Russians were sent into exile in Irkutsk for their part in theDecembrist revoltof 1825, and the city became an exile-post for the rest of the century. Some historic wooden houses still survive. When the railway reached Irkutsk, it had earned the nickname of "The Paris of Siberia." The city was the center of bitter fighting in theRussian Civil Warof 1918–20. Afterward, in the Soviet period, its architecture was dominated by the mandatory squared-up style. The city became a major centre of aircraft manufacture. The historic centre of Irkutsk is located on UNESCO'stentative listofWorld Heritage Sites.
Irkutsk was named after theIrkut River. Its name was derived from theBuryatword for "spinning," and was used as an ethnonym among local tribes, who were known asYrkhu,Irkit,Irgit, andIrgyt. The city was formerly known asYandashskyafter the localTuvanchief Yandasha Gorogi.[14]
The old spelling of the name of the city was «Иркуцкъ». Before the revolution, the city was called "East Paris", "Siberian Petersburg", "Siberian Athens". Locals like to think of their city as "middle of the earth".
In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built azimovye(winter quarters) near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for collectingfur taxesfrom theBuryats. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov built anostrog(a small fort) nearby.[3]Theostroggained official town rights from the government in 1686.
The first road connection betweenMoscowand Irkutsk, theSiberian Route, was built in 1760, and benefited the town economy. Many new products, often imported fromChinaviaKyakhta, became widely available in Irkutsk for the first time, includinggold,diamonds,fur,wood,silk, andtea. In 1821, as part of theMikhail Speransky's reforms, Siberia was administratively divided at theYenisei River. Irkutsk became the seat of the Governor-General of East Siberia.
In the early 19th century, many Russian artists, officers, andnobleswere sent into exile in Siberia for their part in theDecembrist revoltagainstTsarNicholas I. Irkutsk became the major center of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and they developed much of the city's cultural heritage. They had wooden houses built that were adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations. Many still survive today, in stark contrast with the standardSovietapartment blocks that surround them.
Epiphany Cathedral and central Irkutsk in 1865
By the end of the 19th century, the population consisted of one exiled man for every two locals. People of varying backgrounds, from members of the Decembrist uprising toBolsheviks, had been in Irkutsk for many years and had greatly influenced the culture and development of the city. As a result, Irkutsk became a prosperous cultural and educational center inEastern Siberia.
In 1879, on July 4 and 6, a fire burned out of control, destroying the palace of the Governor General, and the principal administrative and municipal offices. Many of the other public buildings, including the government archives, the library, and the museum of the Siberian section of theRussian Geographical Society, were completely ruined.[15]Three-quarters of the city was destroyed, including approximately 4,000 houses.[16]The city quickly rebounded, installing electricity in 1896. The first theater was built in 1897 and a major train station opened in 1898. The first train arrived in Irkutsk on August 16 of that year. By 1900, the city had earned the nickname of "TheParisof Siberia."
Irkutsk in 1918
During theRussian Civil War, which broke out after theOctober Revolution, Irkutsk became the site of many furious, bloody clashes between the "White movement" and the "Bolsheviks", known as the "Reds". In 1920,Aleksandr Kolchak, the once-feared commander of the largest contingent of anti-Bolshevik forces, was executed in Irkutsk. This effectively destroyed the anti-Bolshevik resistance.
Irkutsk was the administrative center of the short-livedEast Siberian Oblast, from 1936 to 1937. The city subsequently became the administrative center ofIrkutsk Oblast, after East Siberian Oblast was divided intoChita Oblastand Irkutsk Oblast.
During the communist years, the industrialization of Irkutsk and Siberia in general was strongly encouraged. The large Irkutsk Reservoir was built on theAngara Riverbetween 1950 and 1959 in order to generate hydroelectric power and facilitate industrial development.
Epiphany Cathedral (built in 1718–1746)
The Epiphany Cathedral, the governor's palace, a school of medicine, a museum, a military hospital and the crown factories are among the public institutions and buildings.[15]TheAleksandr Kolchakmonument, designed byVyacheslav Klykov, was unveiled in 2004. On July 27, 2004, the Irkutsk Synagogue (1881) was gutted by a fire.
Irkutsk is located about 850 kilometres (530 mi) to the south-east ofKrasnoyarsk, and about 520 kilometres (320 mi) north ofUlaanbaatar, the capital ofMongolia. The city proper lies on theAngara River, atributaryof theYenisei, 72 kilometers (45 mi) below its outflow fromLake Baikaland on the bank opposite the suburb of Glaskovsk.[15]The river, 580-meter (1,900 ft) wide, is crossed by the Irkutsk Hydroelectric Dam and three other bridges downstream.
TheIrkut River, from which the town takes its name, is a smaller river that joins the Angara directly opposite the city.[15]The main portion of the city is separated from several landmarks—the monastery, the fort and the port, 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 thicktaigathat is typical in Eastern Siberia.
The population has been shrinking since the late 1980s:587,891 (2010 Census);[6]593,604 (2002 Census);[20]622,301 (1989 Census).[21]. According to the regional plan, Irkutsk city will be combined with its neighboring industrial towns ofShelekhovandAngarskto form a metropolitan area with a total population of over a million.
Irkutsk originally had a borderlinesubarctic climate(Köppen climate classificationDwc). Since 2000, the temperatures have resembled ahumid continental climate(Köppen climate classificationDwb). Snow cover has disappeared earlier, from late April in the 1930s to late March in the 1980s. Discontinuous permafrost depth had decreased from 200 m to 100 m during the same period.[citation needed]
Irkutsk is characterized by an extreme variation of temperatures between seasons. It can be very warm in the summer, and very cold in the winter. However,Lake Baikalhas a tempering effect, giving Irkutsk temperatures that are less extreme than elsewhere in Siberia. The warmest month of the year is July, when the average temperature is +18 °C (64 °F); the highest temperature recorded being +37.2 °C (99.0 °F). The coldest month of the year is January, when the average temperature is −18 °C (0 °F), and record low of −49.7 °C (−57.5 °F).Precipitationvaries widely throughout the year, with July being the wettest month, when precipitation averages 113 millimeters (4.4 in). The driest month is February, when precipitation averages only 7.6 millimeters (0.30 in). Almost all precipitation during the Siberian winter falls as flurry, dry snow.
hideClimate data for Irkutsk (normals 1981–2010)MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYearRecord high °C (°F)Average high °C (°F)Daily mean °C (°F)Average low °C (°F)Record low °C (°F)Average precipitation mm (inches)Average rainy daysAverage snowy daysAverage relative humidity (%)Mean monthly sunshine hours
Thecoat of armsof Irkutsk features an old symbol ofDauria: aSiberian tigerwith asablein 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 asablein his mouth. This image had been used by theYakutskcustoms office from about 1642. It has its origin in a seal of theSiberia Khanaterepresenting a sable and showcasing the fact that Siberia (or ratherYugra) was the main source of sable fur throughout theMiddle Ages. (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 theArmorial 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", 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.
The 662.4 MWIrkutsk Hydroelectric Power Stationwas the first cascade hydroelectric power station in the Irkutsk region. The construction of the dam started in 1950 and finished in 1958.[24]
Despite its remoteness, Irkutsk was reported in 2004 to have the highestHIVinfection rate in Russia.[28]Tens of thousands of drug addicts, mostly ethnic Russians in their mid to late teens are infected. The number of reported AIDS cases increased by more than 10,000% during the 1999-2000 period. Although the epidemic, which started in 1999, is reported to have slowed down, Irkutsk will lose tens of thousands of its working age population from 2010 onwards. This is one of the reasons Irkutsk's male life expectancy, at 53 years, is one of the lowest in all of Russia. Preventive measures are in place to prevent the spread of the epidemic to the generation which was born after the breakup of the USSR.[29][30][31][32][33]
There are many state-owned and privately owned television stations in Irkutsk, including state company IGTRK[34]and private ones, such as AS Baikal TV,[35]TV company AIST,[36]TV company Gorod,[37]and also other media outlets, like the VSP Newspaper Agency.[38]There is also a live webcam broadcasting from the city center.[39]
Irkutsk was home to the well-known Russian writerValentin Rasputin; many of his novels and stories take place in theAngaraValley. An essay on the cultural history of Irkutsk (and another one about the nearby Lake Baikal) is included in Rasputin's non-fiction collectionSiberia, Siberia, which is also available in an English translation. Irkutsk also figures prominently in descriptions by foreign travelers, including the so-called British "Blind Traveler"James Holman, who was suspected of spying and conducted back forcibly to the frontiers ofPoland.
The Church of the Cross (1747–60) is a pinnacle of theSiberian Baroquearchitecture
Irkutsk[41]is a point of interest for tourists with its numerous museums and old architecture. TheTaltsy Museum(Russian:Тальцы), located on the Angara 47 kilometers (29 mi) South of Irkutsk, is an open-air museum of Siberiantraditional architecture. Numerous old wooden buildings from villages in the Angara valley, which have been flooded after the construction of theBratsk DamandUst-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-centuryostrog(fortress) of Ilimsk, which consists of the original Spasskaya Tower and the Church of Our Lady of Kazan transported from the floodedostrogin the mid-1970s, to which an exact modern copy of another tower of theostrogand the Southern wall of the fortress were added in the early 2000s.[42]
TheBotanic Garden of the Irkutsk State Universityknown as the "Irkutsk Botanic Garden" is the onlybotanic gardenas a livingmuseumin Irkutsk Oblast and BaikalianSiberia. Its mission is "to protect and enrich the flora of the Lake Baikal area and the world for people through public education, collection, propagation, research, and conservation of plants". The garden is mainly an educational and scientific tool for theIrkutsk State Universityand maintains the largest plant collection of living plants in EasternSiberia(more than 5,000 plant taxa), a herbarium, and a seed bank. It occupies 27 hectares (67 acres) within Irkutsk city, 70 km (43 mi) West of Lake Baikal. It has a federal status of especially protected land and a nature memorial of Irkutsk.
Trud Stadiumis due to be replaced by an indoor bandy and speed skating arena
Bandyis popular in the city. There are several clubs, most notablyBaykal-Energiya[44]of theRussian Bandy Super League, which can draw spectator crowds of 30,000.[45]It is also the centre of women's bandy in Russia with the clubRekord,[46]which provides most players to the national team.[47]In the national championship 2019, four teams were from Irkutsk and only two from the rest of the country.[48]
In Irkutsk, there are 384 sports facilities, of which 200 are municipal ones. Among them there are 23 swimming pools, 14 ski bases, a sports palace, 154 courts, 165 gyms, an athletics arena, a racetrack, 7 stadiums—Trud,Rekord, Dynamo, Zenit, Aviator, Lokomotiv-2, sports complex of Irktusk and the main football arena—Lokomotiv for 3 thousand seats.[citation needed]
^Jump up to:abLantzeff, George V., and Richard A. Pierce (1973).Eastward to Empire: Exploration and Conquest on the Russian Open Frontier, to 1750. Montreal: McGill-Queen's U.P.
^"[The HIV infection epidemic in the city of Irkutsk under the conditions of drug abuse prevalence]".Zh. Mikrobiol. Epidemiol. Immunobiol.(4): 38–9. 2000.PMID10994102.
Законодательное Собрание Иркутской области. Постановление №9/5-ЗС от 15 апреля 2009 г. «Устав Иркутской области», в ред. Закона №2-У от 14 декабря 2017 г. «О поправках к Уставу Иркутской области». Вступил в силу по истечении десяти дней после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Областная", №45, 24 апреля 2009 г.(Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast. Resolution #9/5-ZS of April 15, 2009Charter of Irkutsk Oblast, as amended by the Law #2-U of December 14, 2017On the Amendments to the Charter of Irkutsk Oblast. Effective as of the day following a ten-day period after the day of the official publication.).
Законодательное Собрание Иркутской области. Закон №49-ОЗ от 21 июня 2010 г. «Об административно-территориальном устройстве Иркутской области», в ред. Закона №12-ОЗ от 23 марта 2017 г. «О внесении изменений в статьи 25 и 33 Закона Иркутской области "Об административно-территориальном устройстве Иркутской области" и Закон Иркутской области "О порядке рассмотрения Законодательным Собранием Иркутской области предложений о присвоении наименований географическим объектам и (или) о переименовании географических объектов"». Вступил в силу после дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Областная", №71, 25 июня 2010 г.(Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast. Law #49-OZ of June 21, 2010On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Irkutsk Oblast, as amended by the Law #12-OZ of March 23, 2017On Amending Articles 25 and 33 of the Law of Irkutsk Oblast "On the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Irkutsk Oblast" and the Law of Irkutsk Oblast "On the Procedures for Consideration of Assignments of Names to Geographical Objects and (or) Renaming of Geographical Objects". Effective as of after the day of the official publication.).
Законодательное Собрание Иркутской области. Закон №88-оз от 16 декабря 2004 г. «О статусе и границах муниципального образования "город Иркутск" Иркутской области». Вступил в силу с 31 декабря 2004 г., но не ранее чем через 10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Восточно-Сибирская правда", №254–255, 20 декабря 2004 г.(Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast. Law #88-oz of December 16, 2004On the Status and Borders of the Municipal Formation of the "City of Irkutsk" of Irkutsk Oblast. Effective as of December 31, 2004, but not earlier than 10 days after the official publication date.).
Законодательное Собрание Иркутской области. Закон №94-оз от 16 декабря 2004 г. «О статусе и границах муниципальных образований Иркутского района Иркутской области», в ред. Закона №106-ОЗ от 6 ноября 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон Иркутской области "О статусе и границах муниципальных образований Иркутского района Иркутской области"». Вступил в силу с 31 декабря 2004 г., но не ранее чем через 10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Восточно-Сибирская правда", №254–255, 20 декабря 2004 г.(Legislative Assembly of Irkutsk Oblast. Law #94-oz of December 16, 2004On the Status and Borders of the Municipal Formations of Irkutsky District of Irkutsk Oblast, as amended by the Law #106-OZ of November 6, 2012On Amending the Law of Irkutsk Oblast "On the Status and Borders of the Municipal Formations of Irkutsky District of Irkutsk Oblast". Effective as of December 31, 2004, but not earlier than 10 days after the official publication date.).
Brumfield, William.Irkutsk: Architectural Heritage in Photographs// Moscow: Tri Kvadrata Publishing, 2006.ISBN978-5-94607-061-4
