For a city that came into being in 1604 as a result of an imperial diktat issued by Tsar Boris, Tomsk lost its way somewhere along the line. Two hundred years down history's road and Tomsk became the administrative capital of Gubernia. When the Trans-Siberian RR bypassed Tomsk, it not just isolated it from the rest of the country but Tomsk also lost its status as an important stop on the commercial/trade routes of the Tom River.

It remained in obscurity till the imminent German invasion of Russia during WW II forced the Soviet government to translocate a number of key industries to the relative safety of Tomsk. The region around the city and the River Tom was incorporated into the obalst of Tomsk in 1944 and the city regained a bit of its former glory as the administrative capital of the obalst and a major economic centre of Siberia.

Whatever else the city may lack, it has a wealth of cultural heritage and educational institutions - the foundations of the first Siberian University were laid in 1880. In 1888, Tsar Alexander III inaugurated Tomsk University. The very first Technological Institute in the region was opened in 1900, to be followed by the Pedagogical, Medical and Civil Engineering Institutes.The oldest library in Siberia is the library at the Tomsk University with its priceless collection of rare books and manuscripts. The Botanical Gardens of the university has a collection of plants from all over the world, tropical plants, giant water lilies, lianas, cactii, etc.

Tomsk has more than 13 museums including the Zoology Museum, Museum of Mineralogy, the Artistic Museum with its top notch collection of Russian icons and paintings and more than half a dozen theatres. One advantage that accrued from its obscurity was that development was put on hold - consequently the city retains its historical look - quiet tree-lined streets, 300 odd wooden houses decorated with carvings typical of the area, ancient Russian Orthodox churches and old stone buildings.

Tomsk lies in the middle of Russia - surrounded by miles amd miles of taiga forests. This partly accounts for its long severe winters when temperatures descend to -20°C. Summers are of short duration, a fair bit more temperate than the winter but not hot. Like the other parts of Siberia, Tomsk too is rich in natural resources - oil, natural gas, iron ore, rare earths and timber. The region is a major exporter of timber and oil. As a key part of the Russian nuclear archipelago, Tomsk has ten secret weapons research and production centres. Unfortunately, the region has higher than permissible levels of radioactivity in the ground water from the disposal of radioactive wastes.

Getting there: Travel to Tomsk is quickest and simplest by air - it is connected by weekly flights from Novosibirsk and Moscow. Trains connect to the nearest railhead at Novosibirsk, travellers need to do the rest of the distance to Tomsk by road, by bus or cabs.

Accommodation options are looking up with a number of hotels offering standard western style rooms with most modern conveniences opening up in Tomsk.

For detailed country and visitor information, see Russia.