Tobolsk

Tobolsk is the administrative centre of the Tobolsk district of the Tyumen oblast. In XVI - XIX centuries it was considered to be the capital of Siberia, a vast territory that stretches from the Urals to the Pacific Ocean.

Tobolsk is located 247 kilometres north-west of Tyumen at the confluence of the Tobol and the Irtysh rivers.
Population: 112 thousand people.
The town is known as the centre of Russian bone carving trade and the place of one of the seven wonders of Russia - the famous Tobolsk Kremlin.

Historical reference

Tobolsk was founded in 1587. XVII century The town becomes the administrative centre of the Siberian province in XVII century. In the XVIII century in this very town for the first time in Siberia, theatre performances took place, books and magazines were printed, and the first ever secular, church, and garrison schools opened their doors to the east of the Urals. It was also the time when many original local trades began to flourish.
In the beginning of the XX century the town earned itself a name as a place of exile for the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his family, and as the epicentre of the largest public revolt the history of Russia has ever seen: the Peasants' Revolt in Siberia in 1921 - 1922.
In the 1960's - when the industrial production of oil and gas began in the north of Tyumen oblast - Tobolsk has become an important transportation link connecting the Northern territories and large industrial centres of Siberia and the Urals.

City manager Vladimir Mazur

Economy

In 1974, the construction of the town's largest petrochemical plant was launched. This is why the petrochemical sector accounts for the largest share of the total industrial output of Tobolsk.
In 2008, the amount of locally produced goods shipped, work completed, and services provided by the Tobolsk manufacturing sector amounted to more than 5 billion roubles. Retail sales in 2008 amounted to more than 8 billion roubles. Capital investments in January-September of 2008 amounted to 1.5 billion roubles.
The town has preserved, and continues to develop, the traditions of local trades. It has a factory that produces souvenirs of mammoth tusk, sperm whale tooth, and moose horns.

Culture and Education

The Russian Orthodox Church recognizes the town as one of the three major Orthodox Christian centres in Russia alongside Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
Tobolsk is a unique town, a landmark of stone and timber architecture. The most significant architectural complex, an architectural landmark of the XVII - XIX century, is the only stone-built Kremlin in Siberia with the first ever stone-built church in Siberia which is now the St. Sophia and the Assumption Cathedral.

There are more than 20 higher education establishments and public schools in this town: the Mendeleyev Tobolsk State Pedagogical Institute, the Industrial Institute of the Tyumen State Oil and Gas University, and the Modern Academy of Liberal Arts.
The Tobolsk education complex includes a school of theology, a regency school, and an icon painting school as well as men's and women's orthodox gymnasiums. 560 students study in Tobolsk theology schools.