Khanty-Mansiysk
Khanty-Mansiysk is a modern beautiful city, the capital of Russia’s largest oil and gas producing region, which is located almost at the latitude of St. Petersburg, and if you look at the map, it is located in the very center of Russia. The unique geographical position has made Khanty-Mansiysk a venue for major political, economic and cultural events.
Over the past 20 years, the face of Khanty-Mansiysk has changed dramatically - unexpected architectural ensembles, fountains and lighting design have made it a real pearl of Siberia. Residents of Khanty-Mansiysk are proud of their city and carefully preserve its history, which is more than 430 years old.
Khanty-Mansiysk time is multi-layered. The city exists in two dimensions at once: on one street there are buildings of the 21st century that are unique in their architecture and wooden houses from the early-mid 20th century.
In the city center there are no buildings higher than 6 floors; individual 12-14-story buildings are located only on the outskirts. There are two parks here - Victory Park with a memorial and Boris Losev Park with a composition of fountains, crowned by the fountain “Confluence of the Ob and Irtysh”. In addition, the park has a gazebo and a pond with a bridge, on the forged railings of which newlyweds traditionally seal their union with a symbolic lock.
Khanty-Mansiysk goes around the Irtysh on the southern and western sides. This great river has powerful energy that invisibly influences the characters of the people living along its banks and the rhythms of the city they created. Since ancient times, people inhabiting the picturesque shores have treated the Irtysh with respect and love, worshiped it and made up legends. In winter, the Irtysh freezes to a depth of several meters. In the spring, when the river opens up, townspeople come to watch the ice drift.
The bridge across the Irtysh, built in 2004, received the unofficial name Red Dragon and became a symbol of the era of accelerated development of Khanty-Mansiysk. The 1315-meter-long bridge connected the banks of the river and gave the city access to the western part of the Autonomous Okrug and the center of Russia. Today it is one of the most recognizable landmarks of the capital of Ugra.
The nature of Khanty-Mansiysk cannot but amaze. Directly on the territory of the city there is a natural park “Samarovsky Chugas”. This untouched corner of the Siberian taiga with centuries-old cedars and spruces in the center of the capital city, which opens up additional opportunities for tourism development for Khanty-Mansiysk. Despite the abundance of greenery in the city, many flowers are planted here every summer. They decorate the streets from early spring until late autumn.
Khanty-Mansiysk loves sports: two ice palaces, a ski slope, the leading biathlon center in Russia, a tennis center, swimming pools, and a water park have been built. Culture has not been forgotten either: the city has 4 museums, 3 theaters, 42 monuments. At the same time, the most visited place in the city is considered to be the cultural and tourist complex Archeopark with sculptures of mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, cave bears, cave lions, big-horned deer, primitive bison, ancient horses, and wolves located on its territory.
Khanty-Mansiysk is a green, clean city with excellent quality roads. They have two or three lanes, looped around the perimeter of the city; in 15 minutes by car you can get from one end of the city to the other. Impressive transport interchanges, overpasses, and underground passages have been built here, where advertisements for cultural events are posted and photo exhibitions are held.
In the field of housing construction, Khanty-Mansiysk has its own special style, unique architectural and planning style. New residential areas are linked with roads, sites and amenities into a single complex.
Modern shopping and entertainment centers have become a real decoration of urban architecture. They are distinguished by their complex configuration, abundance of glass elements, color variety and functionality.
Just recently, 8-10 years ago, life in Khanty-Mansiysk came to a complete standstill after 20:00. Nowadays, traffic along the central streets does not stop even at night; at the main intersections there are groups of taxis until the morning.
Restaurants serving Russian and European cuisine are open to visitors at night, as well as nightclubs and bars.
The best time to walk in Khanty-Mansiysk is at night. Just walk around, admiring the illuminated buildings of non-standard architecture, streets and squares flooded with street lamps.
During the day you can go on excursions around the city, visit local museums, ride horses, and in winter you can also ride a reindeer sled. Sleighs and sledges are waiting for everyone on the Central Square, as well as on the territory of the Yugorskaya Dolina hotel. By the way, here you can also visit the sauna courtyard with an open-air swimming pool, which functions even in the most severe frosts.
Special ceremonies are organized for guests of Khanty-Mansiysk - initiation into Siberians, the participants of which will definitely be offered to taste stroganin made from raw elk or deer meat, and national bread.
For lovers of active recreation, there are ski and downhill ski slopes. From the snowy mountain you can go tubing or “cheesecakes”, as the locals call them.
For those who cannot imagine their life without sports, there are swimming pools, gyms, and fitness clubs.
