Irkutsk

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Irkutsk (Russian: Иркутск) is one of the largest cities in Siberia. It is a fortified military post, an archbishopric of the Russian Orthodox Church, and the administrative center of Irkutsk Oblast.

 

Irkutsk grew out of the winter quarters established (1652) by Yakov Pokhabov for gold-trading and for the collection of the fur tax from the Buryats. The town gained official city rights from the government in 1686. The first road connection between Moscow and Irkutsk, the Siberian Road (Sibirsky Trakt), was built in 1760. The city benefitted economically from this new road. Many new products, often imported from China, were widely available in Irkutsk for the first time, including gold, diamonds, furs, wood, silk, and tea.

 

During the past centuries Siberia, with its severe climate, has had a reputation as the place for exile. In Genghis Khan's army, punishment was either death or exile to Siberia. In the early 19th century, many Russian artists, officers, and nobles were sent into exile to Siberia for their part in the Decembrist revolt against Tsar Nicholas I. Irkutsk became the major center of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and much of the city's cultural heritage comes from them; many of their wooden houses, adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations, survive today in stark contrast with the standard Soviet apartment blocks that surround them.

 

During the civil war that broke out after the Bolshevik Revolution, Irkutsk became the site of many furious, bloody clashes between the "Whites" and the "Reds". In 1920, Kolchak, the once-feared commander of the largest contingent of anti-Bolshevik forces, was executed there, effectively destroying the anti-Bolshevik resistance.

 

The Irkut River, from which the town takes its name, is a small river which joins the Angara directly opposite the town. The main portion of the city is separated from several important landmarks-the monastery, the fort, and the port, as well as its suburbs by another tributary, the Ida, or Ushakovka River.

 

A cathedral (built of wood in 1693 and rebuilt of stone in 1718), the governor's palace, a school of medicine, a museum, a military hospital, and the crown factories are among the public institutions and buildings. On July 27, 2004, Irkutsk's synagogue built in 1881 suffered an electrical fire.