Irkutsk

This city has some cool history behind it. It was the capital city for the 'White Army' which was in opposition to the 'Red Army' that eventually won out during the Russian Civil War after the Revolution of 1917. It was the site of a number of conflicts between the Reds and Whites. There is a monument for Admiral Kolchak, leader of the white army, who was executed in Irkutsk in 1920. His life is the subject of the 2008 movie 'Admiral.' It got great reviews from the Ukrainian sister missionary I met here. It's definitely on my 'To Watch' list now. He received support from Japan, in the form of gold, in the civil war efforts.

Irkutsk was a place of exile for many artists, officers, and nobles in the 1800s. Many of them were 'Decembrists,' or those who took part in the December revolt against Czar Nicholas I. They contributed a lot to the cultural and intellectual development of the area. There is a church here where many of the 'Decembrists' are buried. Many of their wooden houses still exist in the middle of the city. The houses have really decorative hand-carved outer trimming: windows, frames, shutters, and roof overhangs.

(Me and Alex III, whose contributions helped complete the Trans-Siberian)

There is also a monument for the Trans-Siberian railway. The first train arrived in Irkutsk in 1898, carrying Nicholas II. The from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok which now could be completed in days, previously took three months to do. Irkutsk was never in serfdom and thus had some wealthy entrepreneurs that helped in its development. It has always been a gateway for trade between China and Europe. The Russian writer Chekhov, compared Irkutsk to Paris, and it was nicknamed the Paris of Siberia.