Kyzyl is a city in southern Siberia on the Yenisei River, and it is also the capital of the Republic of Tyva. The city was founded in 1914 with the name Belotsarsk, the city of the White Tsar. In 1918 it was renamed Khem-Beldyr, and in 1926 Kyzyl got its current name. Kyzyl quickly became a central city, and in the years 1922-1944 it was the capital of the People’s Republic of Tyva, which with different names has become the present-day republic.

In Kyzyl’s first decades, both administration, trade and production were developed, and in 1939 the town’s population reached 10,000. This number has increased steadily since then, and therefore Kyzyl has been continuously expanded with new suburbs. Today, over 125,000 people live in the city.

Today you can go on some nice walks in Kyzyl, and Ploshad Arata square is a good place to start. It forms the center of Kyzyl, and here there are several things to see. On the northern part of the square stands the city’s statue of the head of state Lenin, and on Lenin’s sides is Kyzyl’s town hall to the east and Tyva State University to the west.

South from here, the largest part of Ploshad Arata opens up, and the large square is dominated by two buildings. To the west you can see the government building of the Republic of Tyva, while the Tyva State Music and Drama Theater is in the middle of the square opposite the government building. Between the two buildings is a Buddhist pavilion with a prayer wheel.

If you go west from Ploshad Arata, you can visit the Republic of Tyva National Museum, one of the republic’s leading cultural institutions. Here you can see exciting exhibitions that reflect the history and culture of the Tyva people through, among other things, many fine finds. Kyzyl’s cathedral is also located in this direction. The church was built from 2002 and inaugurated in 2011. If you go north instead, you come to the Yenisei River running along the city center, and the great river is a beautiful sight.

Along the riverbank in the city center you can see Kyzyl’s most famous sight, the Obelisk for the Center of Asia. As the name suggests, this place is the geographical center of Asia, and the obelisk represents the place. Interest in the center of Asia started in the 1890s, when a Brit indicated the place to be in Saldam in the present Tyva Republic.