Friday, Jun 09 2023

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'What has enabled Russia to rise among the great powers of the world…has been the conquest of Siberia'

W.Bruce Lincoln

What to see

Novosibirsk - the unofficial capital of Siberia - is an excellent stopover for train travellers in search of rest and relaxation as they cross the continent.

Below are a few ideas, both within the city and also on a trip out to the satellite town of Akademgorodok, in the heart of pine forests

In summers - when it can be very hot - or in the extremely cold but sunny winters, the city is good for strolling, with plenty of pubs and cafes to wander into for those in need of a cooling, or warming, drink.

You’ll be pleased to see how many people speak good English.

Lenin Square

As a reminder of its Soviet past, a vast brooding statue of Lenin still glowers over a city centre that has already lost much of its Communist feel.

Good for souvenir photos, as a meeting point and just as beginning of your walk or drive about the city.

You may see just married couples visiting here and sipping champagne. Pleasant gardens around this square and open air exhibitions.

Beaches

You may be bang smack in the middle of old Imperial Russia, and so about as far from the sea as you can get, but Novosibirsk boasts several notable beaches.

One is in the city, called Nautilus, on the west bank of the Ob River near the Tube Bridge - and gets crowded on hot summer days.

Or venture to the Ob Sea, a vast artificial lake created in 1957, and filled in 1959 near Akademgorodok, where university students chill out between lectures.

Museum of Happiness

Organised in 2009 by a family of Irina and Yuri Dryomin, The Museum of Happiness quickly became popular for ‘the feeling of pure joy it leaves you with’, as visitors say.

The owners of the museum travel the world to gather the items, symbolising happiness to people of different cultures.

There is a collection of ‘German Happiness’, along with the one for France, Russia and Kazakhstan.

Pervomaisky Park

A splash of green in the middle of the bustling city, at least in summer, with fountains and pleasant cafes.

Horse rides at weekends, with live music concerts.

Right opposite Novosibirsk City Hall at Lenin square.

USSR museum

Apparently the only USSR museum in Russia, opened in 2009 and situated in a pretty 1917-built wooden house, nestled between the city centre office and residence blocks.

So far it is more a chaotic collection of all kinds of items from the Soviet times, from iron hair-straightener to an old fashioned TV set, and famous Soviet perfumes, rather than a systemised museum exposition-but it is still worth a visit!

Some of the items are for sale.

Akademgorodok, or Novosibirsk Scientific City

This is a satellite town, some 20 km to the south from the centre of Novosibirsk, amid enchanting woodland close to the Ob Sea. Accessible by local train or minibus from the city, too.

Set up in Soviet times by one of Russia’s greatest minds, mathematician Mikhail Lavrentyev, it allowed the young forward-thinking scientists who moved East from Moscow and St Petersburg a pleasant lifestyle, enabling them to work successfully.

It is home to 32 institutes and researching centres, the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Novosibirsk State University.

Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre

Completed during the Second World War, and with its first performance three days after peace in Europe on 12 May 1945, it is arguably the most extraordinary building in all Siberia.

Located on Lenin Square, it includes a vast dome some 60 metres wide and 35 metres high supported by neither columns nor girders. The dome is some 8cm thick, meaning that the ratio to its radius is less than that of a hen's egg.

The theatre has a capacity of just under 1,800, with a total area of 11,837 square metres and a volume of 294,340 cubic metres.