Irkutsk is home to a remarkable number of historic churches, among them Ascension Church 1747-51, Epiphany Cathedral 1718-46, Our Lady of Kazan Church 1885-92, and Saviour Church 1706-13.
There are also a few historical museums in the houses of Decembrist exiles. The Volkonskiy House, located behind the Transfiguration Church off Ul. Timuryazeva near the bus station, was one of the focal points of the Decembrists' social life in the mid-19th Century. The Trubetskiy House at Ul. Dzerzhinskovo 24, as of March 2008, has a sign on the door dated September 2006, no less saying that it is closed for restoration.
Also among the Soviet concrete monstrosities, Irkutsk features street after street of atmospheric, decaying wooden buildings. Most of these are either abandoned or still used as private residences, though, and cannot be entered without permission of the owner, but provide for an atmospheric stroll down the street.
Irkutsk Philarmony. Classic, jazz, folk music performance. (http://www.filarmoniya.irk.ru/) on 2, Dzerzhinskogo st.
The City History Museum at Ul. Tchaikovskovo 5 has an interesting and thorough display of Irkutsk from its inception to the present day. It is currently located across the river on the same side as the railway station from the city center; take bus 8, 11, 23, or 25 from the Angara Hotel, although one will probably have to ask which stop to get off at. The museum is scheduled to move to a new building in the city center in Summer 2008. Closed Wednesdays and holidays. (http://history.irk.ru/)
The Geology Museum at Irkutsk State Polytechnical University has an extensive display of gems and minerals found in Siberia and the Russian Far East, even a block of asbestos under glass. From the center, take bus 3, 4, or 21 across the river to the Polytechnical University behind the railway station; the museum itself is in the central of the three southern wings of the university â do not enter through the main entrance, but rather walk around the outside of the building to the right.
The Irkutsk Regional Museum at Ul. Karla Marksa 2 across from the Alexander III memorial on the Angara embankment has an interesting ethnographic exhibit on indigeous peoples including Even and Buryats, and a display on Irkutsk in the 20th Century. Closed Mondays. (http://museum.irkutsk.ru/ru)
Sukachev Art Museum at Lenina 5. Probably Siberia's best collection of fine art, including several early icons, Russian secular art of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including a few works of Repin, a section of Mongolian and Chinese art, and a section of European art including a collection of lesser-known Dutch masters. Closed Tuesdays. (http://www.museum.baikal....)
The Sukachev Estate at Ul. Dekabristov Sobytii 112 near the TANK bus stop. The estate of a 19th-century mayor of Irkutsk showing life of the upper classes at the time, in a series of log houses that he lived in (http://www.sukachoff.ru/).
Visit local Orthodox churches and Roman-Catholic church in city center.
Tucked away in the residential area of Irkutsk is a small Nerpinary. The Nerpinary is home to two Baikal seals. For a small price you can go and see these seals perform a small presentation and paint a picture! which you can even purchase after.
Ice-breaker "Angara", the oldest amongst steam ice-breakers in the world, built in 1900 in Newcastle, now a museum docked at the city's port.
Znamensky Monastery at ul. Angarskaya 14. Three-centuries old monastery where Alaska explorer Grigory Shelekhov is buried (http://en.wikipedia.org/w...). Nearby it is a monument to Alexander Kolchak, White General. (http://en.wikipedia.org/w...)
Knyaze-Vladimirsky Monastery ul. Kashtanovskaya 52. Built in 1888 in honour of Prince Vladimir who baptisized Rus.
Irkutsk is now constructing its business-center Irkutsk-City not far away from the historic center. A couple of high-tech builnings is there, but more is left to be built.
There is a big dam and hydroelectricity plant in Irkutsk. You can take trolley bus number 8, which will drive across the dam. Afterwards, you can walk to a fuel station, where you can see the power plant very well. Afterwards, you can walk across the dam. Beside the plant, it's also possible to go up and down the dam itself. Not many people seem to consider the dam and hydroelectric plant as an interesting sight, so you'll be more or less alone there.
