Barnaul is the largest city and the administrative center of the Russian region of Altai Krai. The town’s history is known from 1724, while the official foundation took place in 1730, when a Cossack fort was established on the site. From 1727, the new town became the destination for part of the deportations to Siberia that were carried out, and therefore Barnaul grew relatively quickly. The development led the wealthy Demidov family to build mines and a copper smelter at the mouth of the river Barnaulka in the Ob, and around that came the growth to the formation of modern Barnaul.

The location on the river Ob provided good opportunities for transport to and from Barnaul and for raw materials from the nearby Altai Mountains, where silver was soon found. Demidov’s factories were later taken over by the Russian crown, and Barnaul developed into Russia’s leading silver town, producing around 90% of the country’s silver. In 1771, Barnaul became Russia’s only second mining town, and a mining school was established in the town in 1779. 

Mining and the metallurgic industry continued in the 1800s, when Barnaul also became an important trading town in a strategically good location on the way to, among other things, Mongolia. Trade was further strengthened with the railway in 1915, but a major fire destroyed large parts of the city just two years later. Barnaul was rebuilt as a large version of a so-called garden city with light, air and green surroundings in the streets.

Today, you can experience a large city with a right-angled street network that follows the town plan from the 19th century. At that time, Moskovskij Prospekt was the city’s main street. It still is, but today with the name Prospekt Lenina/Проспект Ленина. You can start a tour of the city at Soviet Square/Площадь Советов, where there are several sights. The square is located in the middle of Prospekt Lenina, and on the square there is a statue of Lenin in front of the former Supreme Soviet, which today serves as the government building of the Altai Krai.

On the opposite side of the street as seen from Lenin, there is a pillar monument marking the 0-kilometer mark for distances in the Altai Krai. Continuing behind this monument, you pass through an urban space with a park and fountain before reaching some redstone buildings at the eastern end of the square. Here you can visit the Regional Military History Museum of the Altai Territory, Военно-исторический одель Алтайского годуссерденный краеведческого музея.

If you instead go in the direction behind the Lenin statue and the Supreme Soviet, you come to the Altai Regional Drama Theater/Алтайский краевой театр драмы, which is a modern theater stage. Further away in the same direction is the Barnaul railway station, located on the southern variant of the Trans-Siberian Railway on the stretch between Omsk in the west and Tajjet in the east. In front of the station, you can visit Victory Square/площадь победы, where there is a beautiful memorial to those who fell during World War II, when Germany invaded the Soviet Union and thus Russia.

There are also several interesting museums in Barnaul. Regional Museum Altajskiy Gosudarstvennyi Krajevedcheskiy Muzey/Алтайский государственный краеведческий музей was established in 1823 as the first of its kind in Siberia. In the exhibition, you can see themes such as the fauna of Siberia and mining in the Altai. A little to the south is the Cathedral of the Intercession/Покровский собор, which is the most important Russian Orthodox church in the city. The church was built from 1898 and consecrated in 1904 on the western edge of old Barnaul. It was built as a replacement for a wooden church from 1863. After many church closures during the Soviet era, the church was made into a cathedral.

When you are in Barnaul, it is also an experience to take a walk along the Ob, which is one of the famous big Siberian rivers. It can be done with advantage at Nagornyj Park/Нагорный парк at the old Barnaul. The park is located on a hill with a panoramic view of the river and where you can take a nice selfie with the letters Barnaul. From the park’s vantage points, there is also a good view of the city centre. At the foot of the hill you can see the beautiful Znamenskyy Nunnery/Знаменский женский монастырь. The current monastery was opened in 1994, but the first church on the site was built in 1754.