Tobolsk was founded in 1587 at the confluence of the Tobol and the Irtysh. The development of Siberia, the conquests of Ermak, Khan Kuchum, the Voguls, captured Swedes and Poles, exiled Decembrists and the last Russian emperor, all this is the history of Tobolsk, carefully preserved in numerous museums. People go there to get to know the history of our country better, admire the only stone Kremlin in Siberia, take a photo with the Firebird, spend the night in a transit prison, learn ancient crafts and try kalachi baked according to an old recipe.
How to get there
In one and a half days and 4000 rubles* you can get there from Moscow by train. A plane ticket from the capital to Tyumen will cost an average of 5,000 rubles* round trip, the flight takes 2.5 hours. In Tyumen you can change trains (from 800 rubles* one way).
Where to stay
One day is not enough to explore Tobolsk, so book your accommodation in advance. I advise you to stay in the historical center – there are hotels, apartments and even a hostel in a former prison. For example, the Siberia Hotel for 2300 rubles* per night, the Georgievskaya Hotel for 2200 rubles* or a townhouse with a view of the Kremlin for 2500 rubles*.
Where to walk and what to see
Historically, Tobolsk is divided into the Upper Town and the Nizhny Posad. The visiting card and place of attraction for tourists is the historical and architectural museum-reserve with the white-stone Kremlin – the architectural dominant of the city, where Russian Siberia was born, the St. Sophia Cathedral, the bell tower and turrets on the high Trinity Cape. According to legend, the first wooden fort was built from dismantled Cossack plows.
Kremlin Square remembers the Cossack army of the legendary ataman Ermak Timofeevich, Bukhara merchants and exiled schismatics, the works of the first cartographer of Siberia Semyon Remezov and storyteller Pyotr Ershov, archpriest Avvakum and Vladimir Korolenko, chemist Dmitry Mendeleev and Nicholas II. This is the place where Siberian history comes to life. Tobolsk is a city of transformations, here tourists of the 21st century can turn into a Siberian merchant of the 18th century, a Cossack of Yermakov’s army, an exiled Swede from Charles’s army, a prisoner of the terrible Tobolsk prison or a local craftsman-bone-cutter. Ready? Let’s go to the white stone Kremlin – the heart of Tobolsk.
Tobolsk Kremlin
The museum-reserve includes 54 architectural monuments and 11 museums, dedicated to the history of the development of Siberia, administrative management, the formation of Orthodoxy in the region, the stay of the family of Emperor Nicholas II in Tobolsk, folk crafts and the history of hard labor. These are the Governor’s House, the Provincial Museum, the Governor’s Palace, the Prison Castle, Gostiny Dvor, the Scientific Library and Renterea, the House of Masters and the Kamelek Family Museum Center, the Bishop’s House and the Judicial Administration.
Entrance to the Kremlin territory is free, tickets to museums cost from 100 rubles*, master classes – from 150 rubles*, excursions – from 500 rubles*, advance registration is required.
Sophia-Assumption Cathedral and Renterea
Photo: Sergei Butorin/shutterstock.com
The main building of the Kremlin is the five-domed Sophia-Assumption Cathedral, built in 1686 according to the model of the Ascension in Moscow. This is the first stone building in Siberia, the center of the educational life of the region. Go inside and try to imagine the Siberian kingdom of those distant times.
And to get a deeper insight into the spirit of history, go to the open storage facility of the museum in Renterei – once upon a time, yasak (a tax collected from local residents, usually paid in furs) was stored in its dungeons. Pay attention not only to the unique exhibits, but also to the historic walls and vaulted ceilings of the Renterea. The original building, conceived by the architect Remezov as a triumphal arch in honor of Ermak’s victory over Khan Kuchum, combines features of the Scandinavian Middle Ages, Old Russian architecture and Peter the Great’s architecture. I advise you to continue the tour at the Governor’s Palace – here you can see with your own eyes four centuries of Tobolsk history.
Gostiny Dvor
Photo: Serg Zastavkin/shutterstock.com
To feel like a merchant, stop by Gostiny Dvor. It was built in 1703-1706 according to the design of the architect Remezov, already familiar to us, to make Tobolsk representative in the eyes of foreign merchants. Perhaps this is why the well-built Gostiny Dvor is a bit reminiscent of the Bukhara caravanserais. Trade shops were located here, goods were stored and merchants lived. Visit the Museum of Entrepreneurship – the interior of the customs house has been recreated, authentic trade items and coins of the 17th century are on display, and a stern customs officer vigilantly peers at visitors – “aren’t you, rogue, carrying a couple of dozen sables past the treasury?”. Even in Gostiny Dvor, I advise you to go up to the Gate Chapel and take part in a master class from the nettle workshop “Grass-Fire” to touch the ancient craft with your own hands.
Prison Castle
Photo: Serg Zastavkin/shutterstock.com
The dark pages of the history of the Tobolsk Kremlin are connected with the Prison Castle – now it is the Museum of Siberian hard labor and exile. The terrible prison on the main square operated from 1855 to 1989. During the excursion, they will tell you about the famous prisoners, offer you to go “alone” and lead you through a gloomy underground passage – it was used so that the convicts could not remember the location of the buildings. Vladimir Korolenko wrote the story “Yashka” based on his stay in Tobolsk Castle. The Soviet prison was no less terrible – in memory of the executed prisoners, a monument was erected in the courtyard. The bravest guests are offered to spend the night in a prison hostel and for 2000 rubles* feel like a prisoner in the quest “Escape from the Prison Castle”.
Siberian expanses and crafts
A mandatory item on the Kremlin program is a walk along the observation decks at external walls of the Kremlin and climbing the walls. Admire the white towers, dovetail battlements, the panorama of the Lower Town and the Siberian expanses – these are the legendary sites of the battles between Ermak and Khan Kuchum. Free and delicious – just what you need after dank prison dungeons and scary stories.
If you come with children, take a look at Ershov Square next to the Kremlin – this is a favorite place for little guests of the city, created based on “The Little Humpbacked Horse”.
Those who like to create with their own hands are welcome in the elegant House of Craftsmen – in the museum they will tell you about the trades and crafts of the local population and help you create a wonderful miracle yourself at a master class, cost from 150 rubles*. Pottery, carpet weaving and weaving, bone-carving art of the northern peoples – everything had a place here. Be sure to stop by the Museum of the History of Bone and try to carve a bone souvenir under the strict guidance of master Minsalim, the cost per hour is 2500 rubles*.
Lower City
It’s convenient to go down to the Lower Town via the Sofia Vzvoz – it has 198 steps and a three-meter thick wall, more than 13 meters high in the upper part. At dusk – a complete illusion of the Siberian Middle Ages.
If in the second year of the pandemic you miss the Gothic cathedrals of Europe and the playing of the organ under the ribs of the vaults, find the Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity, built in the Siberian capital by exiled Poles and Lithuanians in the neo-Gothic style. Organ concerts are held there – the cost is 250 rubles. See the church group for the schedule.
In the Lower Town, the Museum of the Family of Emperor Nicholas II is interesting – here the royal prisoners lived from August 1917 to April 1918. Ticket price – 250 rubles*.
Abalak
20 km from Tobolsk, I advise you to visit the Abalak tourist complex with a reconstruction of the fort from the times of Ermak and the Holy Znamensky Monastery in the Baroque style, which is famous for its temple paintings and stunning views of the expanses of the Irtysh.
Where to eat
The “Mark and Lev” restaurant prepares Siberian specialties from farm products, and the “Kalach, crucian carp and Swedish buns” cafe offers guests both Russian rolls with various fillings and traditional Swedish buns – a reminder of the captive Swedes. The Dvortsovaya coffee shop, in addition to its extensive menu, boasts a view of the Kremlin, and the Povarna in Gostiny Dvor serves historical recipes.
*Prices valid at time of publication
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Preview photo: Sergei Butorin/shutterstock.com
