Tobolsk Kremlin

About this place

The Tobolsk Kremlin is the only stone kremlin in Siberia, in the town of Tobolsk, Tyumen Oblast, Russia, on a high plateau above the lower town and the Irtysh and Tobol rivers. Tobolsk was founded in 1587, and Moscow encouraged stone building there. In 1683–1686 masons from Moscow and Veliky Ustyug built the stone Cathedral of Saint Sophia and the Dormition, and around the start of the 18th century the kremlin's stone walls and towers were built. The cartographer Semyon Remezov, the first historian of Siberia, continued the work, building the Departmental Palace in 1699–1704 above the southern cliff and the Trading Arcades in 1702–1706 in the northwest corner. White walls with pointed, dark-roofed towers ring a wide square, where the white cathedral rises with blue and golden domes beside a tall bell tower. From the edge of the plateau the view opens wide over the old town, the plains and the rivers. Visitors walk the squares and wall walkways, visit the museums in the old buildings and look out over the town from the cliff edge. The kremlin is covered in snow in the long winter. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Russia, and non-Russian bank cards may not work, so read the current advice before you plan.