The Krasnoyarsk Territory is situated in the East Siberian region of Russia, in the very center of the Eurasian continent. More than 3 million people live in the Krasnoyarsk Territory; this is 2% of Russia's total population. The Territory stretches from the Arctic Ocean to the mountain regions of southern Siberia, almost 3000 kilometers. Its total area is 2.34 million square kilometers or 13.6% of the territory of Russia. The nature of this region is diverse. Several zones, such as steppe and taiga, tundra and arctic desert, are placed within the territory of Krasnoyarsk region. Its fauna consists of 342 species of birds and 89 species of mammals. The most significant of the latter is the wild reindeer population that numbers 600,000 animals. Polar bears, walruses and seals inhabit the coast and waters of the Arctic Ocean. Polar foxes, wolves, foxes, and ermines inhabit the tundra. Many species of birds nest here also. The brown bear, moose, deer, sable, lynx, and squirrel are found in the taiga. The rivers and lakes of the region are rich in fish: Siberian sturgeon, sterlet, taimen, greyling, sig, etc. - all in all about 30 commercial species.

The Krasnoyarsk Territory is one of Russia's richest raw material areas. The most important natural resources are oil, gas, hydro-energy, coniferous forests, polymetallic ores, iron ore, coal, gold, precious metals, and non-metallic minerals. The Krasnoyarsk Territory was established as an independent administrative unit of Russia in 1822 as the Yenisei Province, which was reorganized into the Krasnoyarsk Territory in 1934. The city of Krasnoyarsk, became the administrative center of the province and later - of the Territory.

One of the earliest Russian settlements in Siberia, Krasnoyarsk was founded as the fort of Krasny Yar in 1628 by the leader of the Cossacks Andrey Dubenskiy, who came with the detachment of Cossacks to the confluence of the Kacha River with the Yenisei. For 100 years Krasnoyarsk played the role of frontier advanced post. The Cossacks almost annually repelled the attacks of natives, they were in the state of siege sometimes for months, but during the years of its existence the enemy never conquered Krasnoyarsk. Krasnoyarsk received the status of town in 1690, when Siberia was finally joined to Russia.

The extension of the Great Siberian Post Road to this point in 1735 spurred Krasnoyarsk's development as the chief town of central Siberia. The discovery of gold in the area in the 19th century further accelerated its growth. After the arrival of the Trans-Siberian Railroad in the 1890s, Krasnoyarsk developed rapidly and spread onto the right bank, where it now extends for more than 18 miles (29 km) along the river. Krasnoyarsk's industrial growth was further stimulated by the evacuation to the town of many factories from the west during World War II. In the 1960s one of the largest hydropower stations in the world was constructed there on the Yenisei not far from the city. Today there are more than 150 enterprises here exporting their products to dozens of countries all over the world. Krasnoyarsk possesses a high level of scientific potential: there are more than 50 academicians and associates of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 47 research and development institutes, 12 higher educational institutions, 35 junior technical colleges, 138 public schools. Nowadays Krasnoyarsk is a rich cultural center. There are 8 theaters, 5 museums, 100 public libraries, 67 clubs and culture houses.

RED STAR TRAVEL invites you to visit Krasnoyarsk, the Territory's largest city, where more than 925 thousand people live. Here you have a chance to learn the natural environment of the region, which is amazingly abundant and varied, with formidable rocks and deep gorges, boundless steppes and primeval taiga forests.

OKTYABRSKAYA HOTEL

Located in the center of Krasnoyarsk, not far from the bank of the Yenisei River and the Local Lore Museum. 5 km to the railway station and 70 km to the airport. Built in 1978. Renovated in 1996. 6 floors. All floors accessible by elevator. 134 rooms. 124 rooms offered by Red Star Travel feature private bathroom, color TV, telephone, refrigerator or mini-bar. Room service. Restaurant for 150 seats. Bar. Business Center. Service Bureau. Conference halls for 10, 25 and 60 seats. Health Center: sauna, swimming pool, fitness and tennis halls. Hair Salon. Beaty Shop. First aid medical office. Currency Exchange. Safety deposit box. Souvenir kiosk. News stand. Laundry. Baggage storage. On-site parking. Security Service. English speaking staff. Room rates - from $90.

KRASNOYARSK HOTEL

One of the largest hotels in the city. Centrally located on the Yenisei River Embankment. 40 km to the airport and 3 km to the railway station. Built in 1975. Renovated in 1997. 8 floors. All floors accessible by elevator. 263 rooms. 165 rooms offered by Red Star Travel feature private bathroom, color TV, radio, international direct-dial telephone. Upgraded rooms are additionally equipped with refrigerators, suites - with mini-bars and hair-dryers. Room service. Restaurant. Bar for 26 seats. Coffee shop for 20 seats. 2 banquet halls for 26 and 10 seats. Business center. Service bureau. Fitness center: gym, sauna, small contrast pool, massage. Hair salon. Beauty shop. Currency Exchange. Safety deposit box. Dentist office. Laundry. Souvenir shop. News stand. Baggage storage. On-site parking. English-speaking staff. Room rates - from $75.

Krasnoyarsk Museums

Krasnoyarsk Museum of Regional Studies. Operating hours: 10am to 5pm, closed on Mondays. Appeared in 1889, the museum has one of the largest collections of Ethnography and Regional Studies in Siberia. Over 286940 items are housed on the area of 3373 sq.m. The life of Siberia from Prehistoric Age to the present times. Examples of primitive weapons and utensils of Paleolithic and Neolithic Ages. Stuffed animals and birds. Vast collection of minerals. Samples of clothing of all times. Handicrafts.

Surikov Memorial Museum-Estate. Operating hours: 10am to 5pm, closed on Mondays. Still extand in Krasnoyarsk is the wooden house, where the great Russian Cossack painter Vassily Surikov, famed for his "The Morning of the Execution of the Streltsy", "Boyarinya Morozova", "Menshikov in Beryozovo", "The Taking of the Snow Town", "Stepan Razin", "Yermak Conquers Siberia" and "Suvorov Crossing the Alps", was born and grew up before he left for St. Petersburg to study at its Academy of Arts. In 1948, on the 100-year anniversary of the painter's birth, the two-stored residence became the memorial museum-estate of Vassily Surikov. There are genuine things that belonged to the artist, among them a unique collection of his masterpieces, which numbers 84 works.

Surikov Art Museum. Operating hours: 10am to 5pm, closed on Mondays. More than 7,000 exhibit items including Russian and modern painting, graphics, sculptures, and decorative art are held in the exhibition halls on a regular basis. The canvases of Krasnoyarsk painters have been exhibited in France, Germany, Finland and other countries.

Krasnoyarsk City Tour

The city stands on both banks of the Yenisei River where the latter is crossed by the Trans-Siberian Railroad. The part located on the left bank creates a historical center of the city. Here you will see a lot of original wooden houses, where people still live. The city center is created by three main streets, Prospekt Mira, Ulitsa Lenina, Ulitsa K.Marxa which are parallel to the Yenisei river. There are many modern shops and world companies here. The right bank was developed mainly after the WWII and it is more industrialized. Some of the factories are even now inaccessible, especially for foreigners.

The St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa Chapel. Situated on the top of Karaulny Mountain near the Kacha River, the chapel became the symbol of Krasnoyarsk. In 1804 the merchant Novikov built and decorated the wooden chapel remembering his lucky life saving from a whirlpool of rapids. In 1852-1855 the architects Alfeev and Nabalov rebuilt it in stone. On the platform near the Chapel Vassily Surikov, the famous Russian painter, worked. In 1887 the great Russian scientist and radio inventor Alexander Popov observed the solar eclipse here. Since 1980 the chapel is an architectural and historical monument included in the list of the monuments that are recommended to the Federal protection. Today the chapel is enjoyable place of pilgrimage of the Krasnoyarsk citizens and guests of the city. It decorates 10-rouble bonds of new Russia.

Krasnoyarsk Churches. Built in the late 18th century, the Intercession Cathedral is the city's main working church. It is a salmon-pink and white building with gold domes. The redbrick neo-Gothic Catholic Church is now working again after being used as an organ concert hall in Soviet times.

Krasnoyarsk bridges deserve special attention. The subject of a long-standing pride of Krasnoyarsk citizens is the railway bridge over the Yenisei, constructed in 1899 by the mechanical engineer Knorre and designed by the professor of the Moscow engineering school Proskuryakov. At the World Exhibition in Paris in 1900 this bridge was awarded with the gold medal as the highest achievement of technical thought. The same reward was given to the world-famous Eiffel-tower. Our contemporaries also built unique bridges over the Yenisei. In 1961 the communal bridge, the length of which is 2,100 m, was put into operation. But even more grandiose is the Oktyabrsky road-transport bridge over the Yenisei, built in 1986: it is 41 m wide and more than 5,000 m long.

Tour of Krasnoyarskaya H.P.S., 4 hours

It goes without saying that the main attraction of Krasnoyarsk is the Yenisei, which is the watershed between the Eastern and Western Siberia. The river is formed by the confluence of the Big and the Small Yenisei in the Tuva Republic. The Yenisei is 3 487 kilometers long. The river basin area is 2 580 000 square meters. This is the fullest river in Russia, the average water outlay reaches 19 800 cubic meters per second. On its way to the ocean the Siberian river takes more than 500 big tributaries. Almost 625 cubic kilometers of fresh water are brought annually into the Arctic Ocean.

Exactly here on the Yenisei the most powerful hydroelectric power stations in Eurasia were built: the Sayano-Shushenskaya and the Krasnoyarskaya Hydroelectric Power Stations. The total capacity of hydropower stations in the Territory is 44.8 billion kwt/hours. The pride of Siberian energetic is the Krasnoyarskaya H.P.S., its capacity is 6 million kilowatts. In 1961 the first concrete was poured into its dam body.

Tour of Stolby Nature Reserve, 5 hours

This tour will take you to the famous Stolby (Pillars) reserve, which is located not far from Krasnoyarsk on the right bank of the Yenisei river. Its total area is 47 000 hectares, 1,500 of which are used for tourism and excursions. You will pass by rocks of whimsical forms named - Lion Gates, The Old Man, The Miter, Feathers, Takmak. Altogether there are 100 of them; some rocks reach 100 m in height. You will travel on a mountainous road through the boundless taiga forest, enjoy fresh and clean air and try crystal cold water from the springs.

The route runs along the valley of a mountainous creek Laletina. The scenery is exceptionally picturesque: you will see spring and summer flowers at the same time. It accounts for the mountainous relief of the reserve, different elevations of the mountains, the number of days of sunshine and soil temperature.

The Stolby reserve is famous for its splendid scenery. From the observation platforms you will see breathtaking panoramic views: birch tree lace, carved mountain - ash leaves, huge decomposed by shocks of lightning larches, mighty cedars and beautiful Siberian flowers: wild Mary gold, forget- me-not, fire weed.

The Stolby reserve is the all - Russian school of mountaineering. The history of mountaineering in the reserve began in the middle of the XIX century. The first amateurs climbed the top of the Second Stolb. The reserve also attracts painters who often work in this magnificent nook of the Sayan Mountains.