Founded in 1651 as a Cossack Garrison and an important staging post on the Trans-Siberian Railway, Irkutsk lies in the midst of the Siberia Taiga, on the Angara River flowing from Lake Baikal a mere 70 km away. Once dubbed "The Paris of Siberia" before the Russian Revolution, this is a fine city with ancient churches, tree-lined avenues and wonderful examples of wooden domestic architecture.........

свернуть