Tobolsk

Tobolsk is a Russian city in the Tyumen Oblast east of the Ural Mountains.Tobolsk was founded in 1587 by the Cossacks of Daniil Tschulkow as Ostrog. Nearby was Qaschliq, also known as Isker, the capital of the Sibir Khanate. In 1621 Tobolsk became the center of the Siberian eparchy.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the settlement developed into the trading center of the Irtysh region, from 1712 it was the administrative center of the Siberian governorate, later of the Tobolsk governorate, and is known as the old capital of Siberia. Tobolsk is home to the oldest theater in Siberia.  In 1803 and 1864 attempts were made to found a university.
Tobolsk is known primarily for its inhabitants, many of whom were not there of their own free will. The imperial city of exiles sheltered Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Korolenko, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nicholas II with his family in different years on its territory. Prisoners of war Swedish soldiers were also here. And even the Uglich bell, which announced the death of Tsarevich Dmitry, was in exile in Tobolsk.

Tobolsk is known primarily for its inhabitants, many of whom were not there of their own free will. The imperial city of exiles sheltered Fyodor Dostoevsky, Vladimir Korolenko, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Nicholas II with his family in different years on its territory
In addition, the city housed the Tobolsk Regiment, which consisted of Vasily Tatishchev, who later founded Yekaterinburg and Perm, as well as Ibrahim Hannibal, who was the ancestor of one of the greatest poets of Russia – Alexander Pushkin.
Tobolsk is a real open-air museum, almost every building here is of historical value. The beauty and pride of the former provincial capital is the unique ensemble of the Tobolsk Kremlin. Wonderful architectural monuments, of which there are more than 200 in Tobolsk,
Tobolsk is annually visited by more than 200 thousand tourists and excursionists from Russia and other countries  for educational, business, scientific, sports purposes.

Access : Coordinates: 58.2, 68.266667 / The city is located away from the main transport routes. The nearest airport is in Tyumen, two and a half hundred kilometers away. It is about four hours by car or by train, by bus and even longer.
/ By plane :
The Tobolsk airport has not accepted passenger flights for a long time, and the plans for its development are vague. The nearest airport is in Tyumen /
/ Public transport can be reached either by train (trains to Surgut, Nizhnevartovsk, Novy Urengoy, Purpe, Korotchaevo), or by bus from Tyumen.
/ By car :
Tobolsk is located on the P404 highway connecting Tyumen (250 km) with the cities of the Khanty-Mansiysk District. To the north, the nearest cities are Surgut (530 km) and Khanty-Mansiysk (430 km), and there are no directions other than the north and south in these parts.

Highlights :

•  Old water tower. The neo-Gothic water tower of the early 20th century stands in the very center of the square. A souvenir shop is open in the summer. Mobile base stations are installed on the tower, so only employees of cellular companies servicing this equipment can officially go upstairs, from where a good view of the Kremlin opens.
•  Red Square : The historical center of Tobolsk , Prison castle , Old water tower , Monument to Semyon Remezov. Semyon Ulyanovich Remezov (1642-1720) is not one of the Siberian pioneer . Walking along Red Square, you will hardly miss the building of the provincial museum in the eclectic style (1887) and the long, which occupies an entire block between Remezova and Oktyabrskaya streets, the building of the theological school.
•  The road leading to the city first winds among the picturesque cliffs with almost sheer walls, and then at some point it runs into the foot of a high hill with a snow-white Kremlin at the top. Below, from the side of the old settlement, there is a staircase called Sophia Vzvoz, which has exactly 198 steps.
•  The stone Kremlin : The Tobolsk Kremlin, located at the very edge of the Troitsky Cape, is the only stone Kremlin in Siberia and the true center of the city.The main attraction of the city is the stone Kremlin, atypical for Siberia, whose construction was ordered by Peter the Great. In the city’s museum there is a rich collection on the culture of the Khanty and Mansi.  The Church of the Resurrection of Christ is also located here, which is a prime example of the Siberian Baroque.The governor’s palace today houses the main museum complex of the Kremlin with interiors of the 17th – 19th centuries, thematic exhibitions and an impressive collection of mammoth bone items. And the bishop’s house housed an exposition dedicated to the history of Orthodoxy in Siberia
•  The Tobolsk prison castle : The notorious Tobolsk central, and in Soviet times – the special prison ST-2 of a strict regime of detention, which operated until 1989. A building complex that was built as a prison from 1846 to 1855. The writers Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolai Chernyshevsky and Vladimir Korolenko, among others, were imprisoned in this prison. It was not until 1989 that the prison was abolished. The building is now a museum. At various times, the poet and translator Mikhail Mikhailov, the writer and publicist Vladimir Korolenko, the philosopher Nikolai Chernyshevsky, the revolutionary Fanny Kaplan, and the writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn worked here. During the Great Terror of the 1930s, several thousand people were shot in prison, and how many died of hunger, disease and daily torture is still not known.
•  Sophia Cathedral of the Assumption. The first stone church in Siberia (1683-86) and the oldest surviving building beyond the Urals. / Aleksandrovsky Garden, between st. Khokhryakov and Mira / Monument to Mendeleev : The great chemist was born in Tobolsk and studied at the local gymnasium.
•  Pokrovsky Cathedral. Built in 1743-46, an ordinary monument of the Baroque style. The cathedral is practically adjoined by a 75-meter cathedral bell tower (1794-96), which was actually intended for the St. Sophia Cathedral, but was eventually erected next to Pokrovsky after the two former bell towers, which stood closer to the St. Sophia Cathedral, collapsed.
•  Monument to Semyon Remezov. Semyon Ulyanovich Remezov (1642-1720) is not one of the Siberian pioneers, but he did no less for the development of this region – from creating the first geographical atlases in Russia to designing several buildings of the Tobolsk Kremlin. / Museum of the History of Development and Study of Siberia /
•  Peter and Paul Church, st. Bolshaya Sibirskaya, 2. Built in 1768-74. almost simultaneously with the temples of the Podgornaya part. A good monument of the Siberian Baroque / Christmas Church, st. Dekabristov, 44. An ordinary monument of the Baroque style (1744-61), well restored. Interesting wooden houses can be found nearby.
•  Along the main streets of the Nagornaya part – Remezova and Oktyabrskaya – there are many pre-revolutionary houses , and if the buildings on Remezov Street are mostly stone, then at the beginning of Oktyabrskaya Street you will find several completely restored wooden mansions.
•  Church of Archangel Michael , st. Lenin, 24 (opposite the Sofiysky Vzvoz). The first of the restored Tobolsk churches (1745-54) / Church of Zechariah and Elizabeth , Market Square. 8. Built in 1758-76. Usually the roofs of Tobolsk temples are painted green, but here black is chosen.
•  Market square : There are several buildings of the 18th century, including the magistrate (house No. 3, 1754) with deliberately simple and angular design of window openings. Two houses on Khokhryakova Street (No. 2 and 10) – classicist mansions built at the end of the 18th century.

Activities : sightseeing / photo opportunities / View of the Irtysh from the observation deck of the Tobolsk Kremlin,Tobolsk is stretched along the Irtysh for almost 15 km /

Go next : The village of Abalak is located 25 kilometers from Tobolsk / Tyumen  is a city in Western Siberia and the capital of Tyumen Oblast, / the village of Pokrovskoye. One has only to warn that the Grigory Rasputin Museum is open by prior request. / Ishim , a town in the south of Tyumen Oblast, Russia.