Читать книгу The Most Detailed Travel Guide around Irkutsk. All the attractions with the route of movement & addresses - Alexander Dmitrievich Katashevtsev - Страница 4

Directly from a small park near the monument, we go to Glazkovsky Bridge – the oldest bridge in Irkutsk over the roaring daughter of Baikal called the Angara River. And although it had a predecessor – the pontoon Nikolayevsky bridge, the remains of which are still visible at the bank downstream (existed since 1891) – a permanent ferry began operating in Irkutsk only in 1936. By the time of completion, it was the most long-span concrete bridge in the USSR.

Pontoon bridge

The architect of the bridge was the author of the mausoleum to V. I. Lenin and the tribune on Red Square in Moscow I.A. Frantsuz. And on the penultimate parapet stand on the left, you can still see a sign that this bridge is a monument to V. I. Lenin.

Glazkovsky bridge in 1936

And now we will find ourselves in the center of Irkutsk, where immediately on the right we are greeted by the beautiful Holy Trinity Church, built in the style of the mysterious “Siberian Baroque”. It was consecrated on September 22, 1778 and, despite the fact that it suffered from many floods and fires, it is the only one in the city that has possessed the ancient roofing iron forged in smithy.

Holy Trinity Church

Until the middle of the 19th century, this temple was the only place of prayer for residents of Glazkovsky suburb on the other side of the Angara River, where the Troitsky ferry was arranged. The only planetarium in Siberia was opened in an abandoned church building since 1950, which worked until 1983.

Planetarium in Trinity Church

Behind the powerful silhouette of the temple you can see the only church-rotunda in Irkutsk. It was consecrated in the name of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea in 1805 and built according to the project of the famous architect A.I. Losev.

We pass along Chekalov Street and at the entrance to the embankment we are greeted by a monument to veteran of paratroopers, opened in 2018. Then we will turn right and dive under the bridge, where after on the right we will see one of the memorable buildings of Irkutsk – this is the former progymnasium of M.V. Hajduk. Today here is a center and a service for the preservation of the historical and cultural heritage of the Irkutsk region, as well as the Cosmonauts Square which is located nearby.

Progymnasium of M.V. Hajduk

The building located very picturesquely at the bend of the river. Exactly here was the entrance to the pontoon bridge and to the city once rested against the bank, and one of the floats is still visible in the water. In the troubled days of the Russian Civil War in December 1917 and 1919. here took place some of the bloodiest battles in the history of Irkutsk, and on March 7, 1920, next to this place on the ice of the Angara River, an ice triumphal arch was installed in honour of the soldiers of the 5th Red Army who were entering the city in victorious formation.

On the right we pass a waste-ground, where the complex of the most famous public baths in the city opened in 1896 by the famous Irkutsk homeowners N.P. Kurbatov and G.I. Rusanov and became the first such establishment where electricity was installed. For a long time Kurbatov Baths were one of the main resting places for Irkutsk residents.

Kurbatov’s Baths

On the next intersection on the right a monumental buildings attract attention – all this once belonged to the first yeast plant in a history of Siberia, the owner of which since 1882 was a J.M. Pertsel.