Novosibirsk - uVisitRussia

Novosibirsk

Novosibirsk is city that prides itself on size: it is the third-largest city in Russia (the biggest city east of the Urals), has the biggest railway station along the trans-Siberian route, the biggest library in Siberia, and the biggest opera/ballet theater in all of Russia - even bigger than Moscow's Bolshoy. The red-brick Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, while not the biggest, is considered one of the finest existing examples of pure Russian Orthodox architecture. The City lies on both banks of the Ob river. It is the third main cultural and scientific center in Russia and also is home to the famous University of Novosibirsk. The city is developing quite rapidly, and is considered to be the capital of Siberia. The area around Novosibirsk and the Altai Mountains hold some incredible nature for the outdoorsmen. Novosibirsk is also proud by its fabulous galleries, museums and theatres.

Over a hundred something years, from a small beautiful village with quite a romantic name Krivoschekovo (“wrycheek”) Novosibirsk has turned into the third largest Russian city, and let the others dispute it — Novosibirsk was and remains the capital of Siberia.

Novosibirsk is situated on the great Siberian River Ob. Its foundation is associated with the name of the well-known Russian writer of the latter half of the 19th century N.Garin-Mikhailovsky. Engineering was his second profession. In 1891—1893 Garin-Mikhailovsky built the left-bank tracks of the Trans-Siberian Railway. That was the beginning of Novosibirsk's history. The residents of Novosibirsk called the railway square of the city by his name.

Today, Novosibirsk is considered the cultural center of Siberia and one of the cultural, industrial, scientific and educational centers of Russia. There are numerous creative unions and associations operating in the city and a developed network of cultural institutions. These institutions include 15 theatres, including the Novosibirsk State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre-the historical and architectural symbol and hallmark of not only Novosibirsk, but all of Russia and Siberia. The city's musical life is led by the Novosibirsk Philharmonic Society, which has been operating since 1937 and unites about two dozen communities, many of which are well-known outside of Russia.
The city has 82 public libraries with a library stock of about 5 million items. The State Public Scientific and Technical Library of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, being the largest in Siberia, has been operating in Novosibirsk since 1966.
The city's points of interest include fabulous museums, the Novosibirsk Art Gallery, Botanic Garden, and a unique scientific institution for educational, cultural and recreation purposes-a zoological park that has no analogues in the Siberian region.

Residents of Novosibirsk are proud of its State Academic Opera and Ballet House, one of the world’s biggest, its Conservatoire of Music, the Operetta House and the Puppet Theater.

The Art Gallery in Novosibirsk is certainly the worth seeing! It contains works of Ivan Shishkin, Vasily Tropinin, Nikolai Rerickh, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ilya Repin, Vasily Surikov, as well as contemporary artists. On the bank of the river Kamenka stands the tall building of the State Public Scientific and Technical Library. It has more than five million volumes on its shelves.
In 1943, the Academy of Sciences opened up its Siberian branch in Novosibirsk, which signaled the beginning of the city's transformation into the educational hub of Siberian Russia. While many research institutes are located within Novosibirsk itself, still many more are clustered in Academgorodok, a small city founded in the 1950's by the Academy, 30 km south of Novosibirsk. Once a unique experimental research center, located basically in the woods, 3, 000 km from the capital, legendary scientific construction site and independent free-thinking and civil liberty territory, created in spite of everything, by incredible work of enthusiastic academicians headed by the prominent scientist and administrator Mikhail Lavrentyev. Now Acdemgorodok is a large Russian academic center, an offshore programming zone and high-tech business.

Science is actually Novosibirsk’s hobby-horse. There are over 50 higher education institutions in the city, not to mention other ones. Novosibirsk is sometimes called “a campus city”, for both Russian and foreign young people come here to study.

There are several things that really impress — Novosibirsk is known for its numbers, volumes and scales. For instance, the Novosibirsk Zoo occupies the area of 53 hectares and is home to about 11, 000 creatures of 478 species. The Zoo has one of the world's best collections of felines and weasels. Over 300 of its species are included in the International Red Book, the Red Data Book of Russia, and the Red Data Book of Novosibirsk Region. Fifty-six species are registered in international herd books. The Zoo's team takes part in 53 international programs for the preservation of rare and endangered animal species and is a member of three international unions: EAZA (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria), EARAZA (Eurasian Regional Association of Zoos and Aquariums), and WAZA (World Association of Zoos and Aquariums). The Zoo participates in the ISIS international computer program and is in contact with over 150 zoos in 44 countries.