NOVOSIBIRSK / NOVONIKOLAYEVSK (The Chicago of Siberia):
*Mile 2068.
Novosibirsk grew from a small village chosen in 1893 as the site for a Trans-Siberian railway bridge over the Ob River. As work progressed a new settlement grew nearby that became known as Gusekva or Alexandrovsky. In 1895 it was renamed Novonikolayevsk in honor of Tsar Nicholas II and in 1925 the Soviets renamed it Novosibirsk.
Transshipment and river trade developed quickly with the city's new link to the rail infrastructure. Exploitation of Siberia's mineral and timber wealth brought further rapid development. Its central location on the Trans-Siberian Railway has been instrumental in turning the city into one of the country's major manufacturing centers (the city alone produces more machinery than all of pre-revolutionary Russia). The completion of the Turkestan-Siberian Railway in the 1930s connected Tashkent and Central Asia with the main lines of communication. The new factories built as a result of this connection were a major factor in its rank as the ninth largest city in the former Soviet Union. The '60s and '70s saw a rapid development of the city's chemical industry in addition to its metallurgy and engineering concerns. Other industries are primarily concerned with consumer goods (furniture, pianos, shoes, textiles, knitwear and foodstuffs).
Despite the extreme continental temperatures that have been known to drop to -58 degrees Fahrenheit and reach summer highs of 99 degrees Fahrenheit, today Novosibirsk is home to 1,500,000 people. It is the only city in the world to have reached the one million mark in no less than 70 years and its population is still increasing by 15-20,000 annually. Novosibirsk is also the only Siberian city to have a subway.
The city is the principal cultural and educational center of Siberia: it has six theaters, the Red Torch Drama Theater, a children's theater and a circus. There are botanical gardens, an art gallery, four museums and a symphony. One of the most interesting developments is the satellite town of Akademgorodok (Academic Town) 15 miles from Novosibirsk on the shore of the Ob Sea. It was founded in 1956 after a decision of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party to develop the scientific and technical expertise necessary for the intensive exploitation of Siberia. Akademgorodok is the site for Novosibirsk State University, most of the 22 specialist research institutes maintained by the Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the Siberian branches of the All-Union Agricultural Academy - more than 40,000 people in total.
HOTELS:
NOVOSIBIRSK: 3 Ulitsa Lenina (22-03-13).
SIBIR: 21 Ulitsa Lenina.
TSENTRALNAYA II: 1 Ulitsa Lenina.
RESTAURANTS:
DRUZHBA: Tsentralnaya II Hotel.
OCEAN: Krasny Prospekt.
SNEZHINKA: Ulitsa Lenina.
PLACES OF INTEREST:
The opera house and ballet at 38 Krasny Prospekt is the largest in the country (the Bolshoi of Siberia) and was constructed by the women and children of Novosibirsk when their men went off to fight in World War II.
Akademgorodok can be reached by bus, taxi or train as a good day trip into the countryside.
MUSEUMS:
THE DOM MUSEUM KIROV: Ulitsa Lenina near the Sibir Hotel.
This museum relates the story of the Communist Party leader Kirov who it was thought would succeed Stalin. However, he was assassinated in 1934. The museum is housed in one of the few remaining log cabins in the city.
FOLKLORE MUSEUM: Dimitrova Prospekt behind the TSUM department store. Open daily 10am - 6pm.
There are historical displays, a Lenin corner and exhibits of Siberian flora and fauna.
MUSEUM OF GEOLOGY: Akademgorodok. Guided tours are available from Novosibirsk.
THE NOVOSIBIRSK REGIONAL MUSEUM: 7 Krasny Prospekt. Open Wednesday - Monday 12 noon - 6pm.
The museum holds the skeleton of a woolly mammoth.
