This fabulous town with the history that began in 1802 when the winter hut had been found during the Cirkumbaikal railroad's construction, has many historical and amazing nature possessions (architectural and historic monuments, among them - marble station). Slyudyanka has the municipal museum of local lore, history and economy and the private mineralogical museum only in the region – a famous Mineralogical museum n.a. S. Zhigalov. Slyudyanka is a place from where people leave to summit Cherskogo peak (Chamar-Daban ridge, 2090 meters) which is located to the south of Slyudyanka.

The handsome Slyudyanka station and, further, the town of Slyudyanka were found thanks to the Cirkumbaikal railroad in 1902-1916. The railway station in Sludyanka town is the only one train station in the world that is entirely built of white marble. In commemoration of the centenary of the Circum-Baikal Railway in 2005 an entire reconstruction of the building was carried out and a monument to the Minister of Railway Transport, Mikhail Khilkov, who initiated the construction of the railway station in Sludyanka in the beginning of the XX century, was set up.

Really magnificent minerals are everywhere in Sludyanka. Every museum would be happy to have them into their collection. The museums have a lot of unique materials and some of them explain why the city called Sludyanka. It was named after the river flowing through the town. The name of the city's river is explained by the fact that in the past people were mining glist in this region (glist in Russian - "sluda"). Word "Sludyanka" came from "sluda" what translated like "mice". Exactly huge layer of mice on a south of the Baikal made the city famous not only in Russia but all over the world.

Slyudynka is the important district centre of the Irkutsk region. All the trains without exception make stops at this station. A large-scale mining industry concentrates in the city. For instance, mica exploitation on the Slyudyanka River has been known from the end of the 17th century, within the open-pit mine "Passover", where the marble in quantity of raw material for the cement industry was getting out. Slyudyanka mining industry comprises a plant of the abaciscus production where the marble granulates are used, a processing of the tufaceous stone, marble as well as granite blocks. Besides, there is the Southern Baikalsk Fish Plant with the canned food production in Slyudyanka.

Together, with attractive wooden houses and random last century water towers surrounded by the ravishing Lake and Mountains, the town does have its charms. If you are in Sludyanka for few hours, definitely visit a local Museum housing close to 3450 minerals from all over Russia and former USSR. There is another small historical museum at the train station, where you can learn few interesting facts about the Trans-Siberian Railroad. If you are a fish gourmet, Sludyanka has it all: salted, smoked, dry, marinated...you name it!

No words are big enough to truly describe fabulous Siberia. Modern Siberia is progressive and thriving. The region has developed a cultural presence that transcends frontiers. Winter visitors head to the mountains for hiking, skiing or rafting. Summer on the north coast is only about a month long. Today, visitors come to Siberia to experience extremes. It is full of geographical extremes – the world's coldest place, the deepest freshwater lake and the world's most northerly inhabited places.