Angara river promenade

In whatever season you come to Irkutsk, be sure taking a walk along the Angara river promenade! The total length of the walking route is about 6 km. The promenade is divided into the Lower One (just next to Baikal Archi Apt and the temple complex), Gagarin Boulevard and the Upper One.

As a promenade it began to form at the end of the 17th century. By the middle of the 18th, it had become so long that it stretched to Karl Marx Str., where at that time there was already the outskirts of the city. Ships and flatboats docked here, fishmongers traded, houses were built nearby, and later the residence of the mayor appeared.
On the Lower Embankment, in addition to the Cathedral Square with white stone temples, you will see a bronze monument to the pioneers of Siberia with a generalized image of Yakov Pokhabov, the founder of the city. Behind it there is a round view point, the wrought–iron lattice of which, the newlyweds are hung with symbols of eternal love - locks. It must be assumed that the keys to them cover the bottom of the Angara.
Strolling along the Central part of embankment, you will not pass by the White House, built at the beginning of the XIX century by the sons of the merchant of the first guild M. V. Sibiryakov. When the Sibiryakovs' financial affairs deteriorated, the house was sold. From 1836 to 1917, it housed the residence of the Governor-General of the region.

In 1939, the White House was transferred to the Scientific Library of Irkutsk State University, and its image is used in the emblem of Irkutsk State University.
There is a bronze monument to Emperor Alexander III, the founder of the Siberian Way, diagonally from the White House. In 1920, the monument was removed from its pedestal and a concrete spire was installed, which is known among the residents of the city as the "Impotent Dream". In 2003, the monument was restored and now, on Alexander's head, usually sits a pigeon. The forged grille, cast in St. Petersburg in 1909, suffered due to an accident happened not so long ago - a drunk driver drove into it. The damaged part of the rarity was restored at his expense.

Angara river promenade

Gagarin Boulevard