Barnaul was born at the beginning of the eighteenth century in 1730. The place at the confluence of the Barnaulka river into the Ob was once chosen by the clerks of the Ural mining owner Akinfiy Demidov for the construction of a smelter. But soon the production of silver - a currency metal - was forbidden to private breeders, and Demidov lost his Altai enterprises. The next stage of development was associated with the merchants.

All this was reflected in the architectural appearance of the city. Witnesses of factory times - Demidovskaya Square, houses and workshops of that time are located along the Barnaulka River. Deeper into the city are merchant mansions - strong, stocky, like the owners themselves. Houses and streets of old Barnaul have retained their appearance and atmosphere to this day.

Guests of the city will be interested in visiting numerous museums, exhibition halls, art galleries, theaters and concert halls. The Orthodox churches of Barnaul are beautiful and majestic. Most of them were built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A large number of festivals take place in Barnaul. For more than ten years in the regional center it has become a good tradition to celebrate the beginning of spring with a bright sunny holiday - the festival of folk art and art masters "Barnaul Spring". The Museum Night festival attracts more and more guests every year. In July, Barnaul opens its doors to admirers of V.M.Shukshin's work: it is here that the famous Shukshin Readings, now known throughout Russia, open. The capital of the region also hosts the Shukshin Spectator Film Festival, which includes screenings of new Russian films, meetings with famous filmmakers and actors. Since 2007, Barnaul has hosted the International Cheese Festival, which is unique not only for Altai, but for the whole of Russia.

A charming view of the river floodplain and right-bank flood meadows opens from the high bank of the Ob. In the green zone, in the relict tape pine forest, there are health-improving institutions, sports facilities. The 25-kilometer-long "Health Ski Track" runs here, which in the warm season turns into a cycling and pedestrian training track. Near the sanatoriums there is an arboretum of the Research Institute of Horticulture of Siberia. M.A. Lisavenko. On the territory of the health resorts, there are zoo corners where sika deer, roe deer, bear cubs live, but squirrels and birds are not at all afraid of people. The first in the city “Barnaul Zoo” operates in the Lesnaya Skazka amusement and recreation park.

The openness to air masses from the Altai Mountains, the Arctic Ocean and the semi-desert regions of Central Asia makes the weather in Barnaul contrasting, sharply changing: the heat can be abruptly replaced by the cold brought by the winds.

Photo: Valery Stepanyuk