Barnaul was founded back in 1730 as a small working village. Every year the population grew here, and the territory was gradually ennobled and settled down. As a result of this, in 1771 Barnaul received the status of a city, and in 1937 it completely became the administrative center of the Altai Territory. Today, there are many museums, theaters, cultural monuments and other attractions. Barnaul is a true historical and cultural center of the whole Altai and is ideally suited to begin acquaintance with this beautiful region.
"Mountain pharmacy"
One of Barnaul's most interesting sights is the Mountain Pharmacy Museum. The building was built in the XVIII century and served as a pharmaceutical pharmacy. Many drugs were manufactured here, which were sent to district hospitals for the treatment of patients.
In 2010-2012, a complete restoration of the building was carried out, as a result of which a museum was made of it. Here are stored a variety of ancient books on the medical profession, jars, test tubes and vials with preserved medicines, a huge number of tools with which they made medicines and much more.
In addition to all this, the museum has various preserved documents written in ink with calligraphic handwriting. On the walls are photographs of people, posters of those times, pharmacies' prescriptions prescribed by a doctor, etc.
The Mountain Pharmacy is a unique place in which everyone can not only get acquainted with the history of one of the first pharmacies in Siberia, but also learn how pharmacists lived and worked here, how they made medicines and what they used for this.
Barnaul Zoo
The next attraction of the city is the local zoo. It was founded in 1995 as a small zoo. At first, visitors were shown only two chickens and a couple of rabbits. After some time, other animals like ponies, squirrels, foxes, etc. began to appear in the zoo. Gradually, the zoo expanded, and in 2010 it was decided to register it as a full-fledged zoo.
Today in the Barnaul Zoo there are about 250 animals, 60 different species. Also there are officially registered 16 animals listed in the Red Book. Here are some of them: reed cat, Far Eastern leopard, mouflon, emu, Javanese macaques and others.
In addition, the Barnaul Zoo constantly conducts excursions, in the framework of which visitors are introduced to animals in more detail and interesting facts and features are told about them.
"How-so"
The next place, which definitely deserves the attention of the guests of Barnaul, is the Kak-Tak Museum of Entertaining Sciences. First of all, this place will be extremely interesting for vacationers with children, but, as practice shows, adults are also very active in visiting this place.
How-So is a unique museum in which all exhibits can and should even be touched. The organizers are allowed to launch everything that can be put into action, because that is how, in their opinion, people can get closer acquainted with science and physics.
There are magnetic bridges, bridges assembled without a single nail, on which you can safely walk, a chair made of nails, on which you can sit without fear of pricking. Of particular interest are various optical illusions, for example, a fully mirrored room, a striped mirror, and “living” drawings. The museum also hosts fascinating excursions and colorful shows.
Museum of Local Lore
The State Museum of Local Lore is also among the popular attractions of Barnaul. It was founded in 1823 and is the oldest in Siberia. Huge exhibitions and expositions are devoted to the history of Altai, how the mining of minerals in the mountains began, what minerals are mined in the Altai mountains, etc.
In addition, in the museum you can admire collections of weapons, outfits of different nations, robes of shamans from China, America and, of course, Siberia. Of particular interest are the models of Polzunov’s first steam-atmospheric machine and the first hammered machine. There are also whole ethnographic expositions devoted to everyday objects of different peoples of the Altai Territory, for example, Russian, German, Mordovian, Altai.
In total, the museum has over 150 thousand various exhibits.
St. Nicholas Church
The next attraction of Barnaul is St. Nicholas Church. The temple is considered one of the oldest in the city, and the year of its foundation is recorded as 1904. Near the church there were military barracks. Here, soldiers took the oath, and some events were celebrated near the walls of the church, for example, the victory in the war of 1812.
In 1930, the temple was destroyed. The dome was removed from the church, and the bell tower was completely destroyed. A little later St. Nicholas Church was turned into a club for the military, and even later it was made into a school for pilots.
Only in 1991 the temple was again handed over to believers and its reconstruction began. The first step was to build a new bell tower, then painting was done inside the temple. In 2006, the first dome was completely reconstructed, and a year later five gilt crosses were installed on it. St. Nicholas Church is rightfully considered one of the architectural monuments of Barnaul.
Ostrich ranch
The genuine interest of guests and locals is the attraction of Barnaul. Despite the name, quite a few species of animals live in this private zoo. Of course, ostriches predominate mainly, but besides them, there are several species of chickens, rabbits, ponies, llamas, deer, camels, pigs, peacocks, ducks, males, etc. In total, there are about 60 species. Animals can be fed, stroked, photographed with them - the owners do not prohibit this.
If you want to know in more detail about a species, then any of the ranch staff can gladly tell about it.
As for souvenirs, here you can buy a real ostrich egg or try to find a peacock feather, which you can keep as a keepsake for free.
Monument to Shukshin in Barnaul
Another of the main attractions of the city is a monument to the great Russian writer, director and actor Vasily Makarovich Shukshin. It is located in the Leninsky district of the city on Socialist Avenue.
The monument was erected in 1989 in honor of the 60th anniversary of Shukshin. Made entirely of brass. The main feature of this monument is that it was created exactly according to the photograph. The master, Nikolai Zvonkov, was able to incredibly accurately depict all the smallest features of the writer, starting from his face and ending with the manner of dressing. A few years after the opening, they decided to install the monument on a granite pedestal.
Monument of Choi
Another interesting monument that also deserves attention is the monument to Viktor Tsoi. In Barnaul, it was opened in 2010 right on the eve of the 20th anniversary of the death of the great musician and singer. Since that time, many amateurs have come to the city and revered the works of the Kino group in order to lay flowers in memory of the performer.
The monument itself is a figure of a musician with a guitar, which literally "grows" from the pedestal. The sculptor portrayed Viktor Tsoi in his favorite pose - his head is raised up and looks up at the sky. Behind the musician is a semicircle, which symbolizes the ascent of the "Star named Sun."
Drama theatre
Well, perhaps the last attraction on the list is the Altai Regional Drama Theater. V.M. Shukshina. It was built in 1921 and today is one of the largest theaters in Siberia. The capacity of the auditorium is 711 seats, and that of the experimental stage - 183. Before the reconstruction, the theater could receive more spectators, but the reduction allowed for greater comfort for visitors.
The regional theater annually hosts about 30 productions of performances based on the best works of Russian and foreign classics. A mandatory tradition for the theater is the staging of performances based on the works of V.M. Shukshin, in whose honor the building is named.