Where to Stay in Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast

What is Novosibirsk known for?

Novosibirsk is known as the largest city of Siberia, a place that grew from a railway crossing into the industrial heart of Novosibirsk Oblast. The railway made it. It began where the Trans-Siberian Railway bridged the Ob River, and within decades constructivist blocks such as the 100-flat building lined Krasny Avenue.

The Novosibirsk State Art Museum and the Globus Theatre carry its cultural life. Third in size only to Moscow and Saint Petersburg.

What are the main landmarks in Novosibirsk?

Novosibirsk keeps its landmarks along Krasny Avenue and the streets off it. Constructivist architecture leads. The 100-flat building, the Gosbank Building, the Aeroflot House, and the Kryukov House trace the city's between-wars boom, while the Novosibirsk State Art Museum and the Novosibirsk State Museum of Local Lore hold its collections.

The Globus Theatre stages its drama. Older still are the Church of the Protection of the Theotokos, the Monument to Alexander III, and the Red Barracks.

What is the history of Novosibirsk?

Novosibirsk began in 1893 as a settlement where the Trans-Siberian Railway crossed the Ob River. The bridge came first, and the whole town grew around it. Engineers, rail workers, and traders gathered at the river crossing, and within a generation the outpost had become the largest city of Siberia.

Rail tied the new settlement to Moscow and to the flow of goods moving east across Siberia. The Church of the Protection of the Theotokos served the growing town. The Monument to Alexander III honours the tsar under whom the great railway east was begun.

Growth outran the plans. The between-wars decades left the deepest mark on the streets. Constructivist offices and apartment blocks rose fast along Krasny Avenue, among them the 100-flat building, the Gosbank Building, and the Aeroflot House.

War pushed industry east, and factories from the west settled in Novosibirsk Oblast, swelling the workshops along the Ob River. The Novosibirsk State Art Museum and the Globus Theatre arrived with that growth. The Red Barracks and the Novosibirsk State Museum of Local Lore keep the older record.

A railway town became the Siberian capital.

Where is Novosibirsk?

Novosibirsk sits on the Ob River in southwestern Siberia, where the wide river splits the city into two banks. The river rules the map. Novosibirsk Oblast spreads flat around it, and the Siberian Federal District reaches away on every side toward the rest of North Asia.

Level plain runs to the horizon. The Ob divides it in two.

What is the climate of Novosibirsk?

Winters bite hard in Novosibirsk. Deep in Siberia, far from any sea, the city runs a sharply continental climate of long frozen winters and short, hot summers. The Ob River freezes solid for months each year.

Spring and autumn are brief, sharp turns between the seasons. Snow lies late into the year.

How do you get to Novosibirsk?

Novosibirsk is the great junction of Siberia. The Trans-Siberian Railway runs straight through it, and long trains stop here on the haul east from Moscow across the plains. An international airport links the city to the rest of Russia and beyond.

Roads and rail fan out across Novosibirsk Oblast from the crossing on the Ob River. The metro carries the daily traffic. For most, the way into Novosibirsk is by rail.