Tobolsk.

History

Cossacks led by Daniil Chulkov founded the town in 1587 near the ruins of Qashliq, capital of the Siberian Khanate. In 1590 it became the first settlement in Siberia with town status, and from the late 16th century it governed all of Siberia. In 1708 Peter the Great made it the seat of the Siberian Governorate, which stretched from the Urals to the Pacific. Decembrists were exiled here, Dostoevsky was among the town's exiles, and from August 1917 to April 1918 the family of Nicholas II lived in the Governor's Mansion.

Culture & traditions

The Tobolsk Kremlin is the only stone kremlin in Siberia. Its Cathedral of St Sophia, completed in 1686, is the oldest stone building in the region, while the Departmental Palace, the Trading Arcades and the Demetrius gate tower were designed by Semyon Remezov, a cartographer and Siberia's first historian. The kremlin has been a museum-reserve since 1961. The drama theatre traces its history to 1705, and a local factory keeps the rare craft of bone carving alive. Chemist Dmitri Mendeleev, writer Pyotr Yershov and historian Vasily Tatishchev came from Tobolsk, and the exiled composer Alexander Alyabyev wrote the romance 'Evening Bells' here.

Sport

Tobolsk is a small town and its sporting life is mostly amateur. The nearest big clubs and venues are in the regional capital, Tyumen, with its hockey and football teams and the Pearl of Siberia biathlon centre.

Food & drink

Tobolsk eats like the rest of Siberia, and pelmeni, which reached Russian cooking from the Urals, are a staple. Siberian Tatars make up about a sixth of the population, so Tatar cooking traditions live on in the town too.

Practical information

Remezov Airport, 10 km south of town, received its first passenger flight on 24 September 2021. Trains and buses link Tobolsk with Tyumen and other regional centres. Local time is Moscow plus two hours, as in the rest of Tyumen Oblast. The climate is continental with severe winters (the record low is −51.8 °C), so summer is the best time to come.

What to see

• Tobolsk Kremlin — the only stone kremlin in Siberia
• Cathedral of St Sophia — the region's oldest stone building, completed in 1686
• Swedish Chamber — six baroque halls from 1713–1716
• Governor's Mansion — home of Nicholas II's family in 1917–1918
• Remezov's Trading Arcades — early 18th-century merchant rows