Kolyvan, bow cross, Zavolokinskaya village

So, guys, shall we go? Just to avoid any surprises on the way, fill up to the full with quality fuel, inflate the tires, fill up the washer and take a coffee with some healthy snacks! Have a great travel experience!

Start exploring Kolyvan with a historical reference. You can get it at the local local history museum. The small exhibition complex introduces the amazing history of the settlement that almost became the capital of Siberia. Here you will find a rare collection of birch bark icons, fossils, military exhibits. You will also learn why Pushkin's great-grandfather came to Kolyvan four times and how such an unusual name of the town appeared.
In winter museum works Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 to 18:00 (lunch from 13:00 to 14:00). Sundays and Mondays are weekends.

Kolyvan traces its history back to Chauskiy Ostrog, founded back in 1713 to defend the southern borders of the state from Kyrgyz raids. After the ostrog was transferred to a more convenient place in the middle of the XIX century, the construction of the Cathedral of the Life-Giving Trinity began. In Soviet times, the church was partially destroyed and closed. For a long time the building housed the "Pobeda" cinema, and since 1990s the building has housed a clothing market, an insurance company and a medical cooperative.
Five years ago the church was restored according to old photos and drawings: a bell tower was added to the building and a large iconostasis was placed inside.

Take a walk along the streets of Kolyvan. Look for the pre-revolutionary second-grade school (45 Revolutionary Avenue) and the stone house of the merchant Minin (Lenin Street, 50). See the house of the merchant Krotkov dated 1900 at the corner of Sovetskaya Street and Revolutionary Avenue. Wonderful example of wooden urban architecture - the house of iron and hardware merchant V. E. Paisov (43 Revolutionary Avenue). Kolyvan is full of surprises for connoisseurs of history and architecture.

Finally, visit the female Alexander Nevsky Pokrovsky monastery. It was founded in 1992 on the place of the church of St. Alexander Nevsky, which was almost completely destroyed and plundered during the Soviet era. More than 40 nuns live in the monastery, who slowly but surely continue to restore the temple.

The reservoir on the Tula River is a small, but still a replica of the Ob River. In 2020 the structure, which was badly damaged during the flood, was reconstructed. The area around the dam is planned to be turned into a recreational area for local residents and visitors.

At the confluence of the rivers Irmen and Ob in 2014, a monument commemorating the victory of voevoda Andrey Voyeikov's detachment over the Siberian Khan Kuchum was erected.
The battle took place in 1598 and had an incredible significance. After Kuchum's expulsion, all the West Siberian nomadic and sedentary tribes swore allegiance to the Russian tsar. And soon the formidable Siberian khanate also collapsed. Thus began the historical process of incorporating Siberia and the Far East into the Russian state.

The rest of the daylight hours can be spent in Zavolokinsky village. It owes its appearance to a tragedy: in 2001, Gennady Zavolokin - a famous composer and accordionist, founder and presenter of "Play, my favourite accordion" - died here in a car accident.
In memory of the musician a "village" with art-objects - a Russian stove, a huge accordion, a monument to an axe, fairytale characters and even a tree-cycle - was built on the place of his death. You can visit the Zavolokin Museum, which is open all year round, and if you're lucky, you can see murals in the chapel named after St. Gennady Afonsky.

Then the way lies to the recreation base "Ordynka". There is a light and music skating rink, a Russian bathhouse, karaoke. The hotel has a small cafe, where after skating on the rink you can have a snack and drink hot tea. Only hotel rooms are available for accommodation in winter: you can book a room by phone on the website. The hotel serves continental breakfasts.