Slyudyanka

Baikal switchbacks

Байкальский серпантин

The road and rail section down the mountain offer some of the best views to Lake Baikal, Kultuk, and the Circum-Baikal Railway. Stopping on the switchbacks with your car is illegal, but the cafe has a parking lot.

Bear and monkey memorial

Памятник медведю и обезьяне

A statue depicting two figures from a fairy tale, placed there to catch drivers' attention of a sharp curve. There used to be several of them in the region, but this is the only one left.

Historical mineral museum

Историко-минералогический музей

This stone museum too is the result of a private collector, who conducts tours. It's housed in one of the former railway buildings in the city.

Tue-S 10-17

Memorial to the Circum-Baikal railway

Стела КБЖД

Near Kultuk station there's a memorial to the Circum-Baikal railway, part of the Trans-Siberian before the shortcut from Irkutsk across the mountains was built.

Old marble quarry "Strelka"

Карьер «Стрелка»

An abandoned marble quarry fairly close to the town, you can go here and pick up a piece of marble if you like. The place is overgrown with grass and access is free. Marble mining is still ongoing at the larger Pereval quarry a few kilometers to the west, which is closed to outsiders.

Railway station Slyudyanka-1

Вокзал станции Слюдянка

Slyudyanka boasts the world's only railway station entirely built out of marble (mined in the region). The station was designed by Italians working on the CBR (at the time part of the Trans-Siberian) in 1903-04. There are also other details from that time; a bust of Mikhail Khilkov, minister of railways back then, and the imperial-era emblem of the ministry can be seen here and there on the station (restored after the fall of communism). There is also a small exhibit inside the station building showcasing the region's railway history.

Shaman's rock

Шаманский мыс

A narrow rocky peninsula sticking a few hundred meters into the Baikal, serving as a natural divider between Slyudyanka and Kultuk. There's a path to the tip of the peninsula, or you can just look at it from the nearby beach or from the railway stop Slyudyanka 2.

St Nicholas church

Никольская церковь

A wooden church built in 2008 where an earlier church had been destroyed by an earthquake. Interestingly, it has railway-themed decorations in the form of carvings. On Vkontakte.

V.A. Zhigalov mineral museum

Минералогический музей В.А. Жигалова

A private collection of stones from the Baikal region, all of them collected by Valeri Zhigalov (1943-2018). His widow operates the museum nowadays and is open on prior appointment but you may also drop by at random and she may open the museum if she's in the mood for it.

300 ₽

Water tower

Водонапорная башня

Neo-Gothic red brick water tower, used by the railway and next to it an old locomotive. Interestingly these are two blocks southwest of the railway and on the other side of it seen from the station. The tower was built by Poles exiled to Siberia for their opposition to the czar, and at one place if the tower they've placed the bricks so as to form an obscene word.