Okhotsk.

History

In 1647 Cossacks led by ataman Semyon Shelkovnikov set up winter quarters here, which soon grew into a fort. In 1714 Peter the Great sent shipwrights, and in 1715 the vessel Vostok was launched. Okhotsk became the main base for Russian voyages across the Pacific: Bering's expeditions were fitted out here, and the packet boats Svyatoy Pyotr and Svyatoy Pavel were built in 1737. Once the administrative centre moved to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, and later Russia settled on the Amur and sold Alaska, the port quickly lost its importance.

Culture & traditions

Okhotsk's heritage is bound up with the era of the great Pacific expeditions and the Russian-American Company, which ran its affairs from here. Among the historic buildings is a wooden church from the early 20th century. The House of Culture is the centre of community life.

Food & drink

Okhotsk lives by fish, with a fish-processing plant and a cannery, so the Sea of Okhotsk dominates the local table.

Practical information

Small aircraft fly to Okhotsk Airport from Khabarovsk and Nikolayevsk-on-Amur; in winter there is an ice road and in summer a water connection. Local time is Moscow plus 7 hours. The climate is subarctic, with very cold winters (a record low of −45.7 °C) and mild summers, so the warm months are the time to go.

What to see

• Mouth of the Okhota — where the first Russian settlement on the Pacific appeared in 1647
• Sea of Okhotsk shore — the cold open sea where Bering's ships once sailed
• Early 20th-century wooden church — a rare historic landmark in town
• Lenin monument by the House of Culture — a familiar feature of the Soviet-era centre