Khabarovsk.

History

The military post was founded on 31 May 1858 on the initiative of Governor-General Nikolai Muravyov; the landing of soldiers from the 13th Siberian Line Battalion was led by Captain Yakov Dyachenko. Called Khabarovka at first, the settlement became a town and the centre of Primorskaya Oblast in 1880 and took its current name in 1893. It hosted the Amur Governor-Generalship from 1884, became the centre of the Far Eastern Krai in 1926 and of Khabarovsk Krai in 1938.

Culture & traditions

The leading museums are the Grodekov Museum of local history, with rich collections on the Amur region's indigenous peoples, and the Far Eastern Art Museum. The city has a drama and comedy theatre, a musical theatre, a puppet theatre and a youth theatre. The Muravyov-Amursky monument above the river appears on the 5,000-rouble banknote, as does the Amur bridge, completed in 1916. Notable churches include the Transfiguration Cathedral and the Dormition Cathedral on Komsomolskaya Square.

Sport

Khabarovsk is a stronghold of bandy: the local club SKA-Neftyanik has repeatedly won medals in Soviet and Russian championships. The city hosted the Bandy World Championships in 1981 and 2015, and the indoor Arena Yerofey was built for the game. The ice hockey club Amur plays at Platinum Arena, while the largest outdoor venue is Lenin Stadium.

Food & drink

Khabarovsk's cooking leans on the Amur and the Far Eastern seas. Chum salmon (keta) and red caviar, for which the region is known, are the things to try.

Practical information

Khabarovsk Novy International Airport has flights from Moscow and other cities. The Trans-Siberian Railway runs through the city, 8,523 km from Moscow, with Khabarovsk-1 as the main station. Local time is Moscow plus 7 hours. The climate is monsoonal, with frosty winters (around −20 °C on average in January) and warm summers (around +21 °C in July), so summer and early autumn are the most pleasant times to visit.

What to see

• Amur embankment and the Utyos cliff — a riverside walk with views of the Muravyov-Amursky monument
• Grodekov Museum — the best introduction to the nature and indigenous peoples of the Amur region
• Far Eastern Art Museum — an art collection in the city centre
• Transfiguration Cathedral — the city's cathedral church
• Amur bridge — the 1916 engineering landmark featured on the 5,000-rouble note