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Some Fa-moose faces at Knowsley Safari Park

New trail at Knowsley Safari Park will teach people about the European moose and their surroundings

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As we near the end of the Easter break, why not consider something new and unusual.

Knowsley Safari’s wild trail was launched this Easter with two new inhabitants: European moose, Froja and Bruce.

Froja, who arrived at Knowsley Safari in 2014 from the Highland Wildlife Park, was introduced to the habitat early to help her settle in and get used to her new surroundings. And now she has company with the introduction of a handsome male from Whipsnade Zoo!

Although Bruce is still growing, a fully grown bull European moose can reach a shoulder height of more than 2m. European Moose are the second largest land animal in Europe. ‘Fa-moose’ for their charismatic faces, visitors will be in for a treat when watching the moose feeding at the edge of the woods.

With the launch of the new area, educational tours around the trail will be available for visitors to learn more about the European moose and their surroundings.

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Eveline de Wolf, Head of Animal Management at Knowsley Safari, comments: “Closely related to the American moose, its European cousin used to roam the Scottish highlands before it became extinct on the British Isles due to the warmer climate. They currently only occur in the woodlands throughout Scandinavia up to Siberia.

“Our new residents are a part of the Wild Trail area of the park, which has been designed to take our visitors back to basics with nature. There is a great deal to learn about the environment here, specifically, the typical European woodland and the species that inhabit it.”

This Easter visitors are encouraged to arrive early to beat the crowds and take advantage of the new addition to the walk around area of the park where they can learn all about identifying native birds, trees and bugs, and of course - meet Froja and Bruce! For more information: http://www.knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk/

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Knowsley Safari Park Knowsley Park, Prescot L34 4AN Tel: 0151 430 9009

About Knowsley Safari Park

Knowsley Safari Park is north of Prescot, off the M62, eight miles north-east of Liverpool, and it’s a family attraction with a worldwide reputation as a premier conservation and zoological facility. With its varied array of entertainment rides and other features, Knowsley Safari Park also makes for a grand family day out – just the ticket for relaxation and recuperation, with a dose of good educational fun thrown in for good measure!    

Edward Lord Stanley, the thirteenth Earl of Derby, kept an extensive private menagerie at Knowsley as early as the 1830s, when the Park was one of the largest zoos in the world, covering  almost 100 acres of the Knowsley estate. It boasted 94 species of mammals and 318 species of birds, which would make it the largest bird collection in Britain today, and the third largest mammal collection after London and Chester. Among the family attraction’s regular visitors at the time was artist/poet Edward Lear, who painted many animals and entertained Stanley’s grandchildren with nonsense verses and limericks inspired by the zoo’s residents. 

Knowsley Safari Park now has 30 mammal species on show and, after serving during World War 2 as an RAF airfield, it was opened to the public in July 1971. The family attraction has expanded in acreage, the animals roaming 200 hectares (550 acres) of naturalistic enclosures like prairie and savannah. The award-winning family attraction also engages in ongoing programmes of animal husbandry and education, while it maintains its original concept of ticket holders being able to view the animals while driving through the Park in the cars – the first UK drive-through game reserve based on the East African model (and still one of only five such examples). Knowsley Safari Park was also the first to be built near a large city, and it now welcomes more than 500,000 visitors a year for a fascinating and fun family day out. 

Knowsley Safari Park’s 3½-mile (5.6 km) drive was extended by 1½ miles (2.4km) of road in 1973, and there is now a car-friendly route around the perimeter of the monkey jungle for visitors wishing to avoid a close encounter with the baboons!  

Among the 500 mammals at Knowsley Safari Park that can be seen by ticket holders are herds of immensely powerful rhinos and elephants, burly camels, the impressivee buffalo, bison and wildebeest, majestic zebra and giraffes, various types of graceful deer, antelopes, and wallabies. 

One of the star-turns on a family day out to Knowsley Safari Park are the big cats, represented by both lions and tigers, while, for those seeking natural entertainers, the family attraction has a large number of monkeys and the drive-through windscreen-wiper wreckers par excellence, the baboons. Equally entertaining, the meerkats provide ticket holders with mesmerising movements of their twitching heads and use their wet, dog-like noses to pick up scents. They bob and weave about their enclosures, along with the captivatingly cuddly otters, while recent additions to the Knowsley Safari Park family include a pack of 12 African Hunting Dogs, and Red River Hogs.

Another feature of the family attraction that is not to be missed is the daily Sealion show, when the playful mammals ply through pools to feed with their keepers and show off for the crowds. 

Other animals on view for ticket holders at the family attraction include Ankole cattle, bongo, eland, Emu, guanaco, guinea fowl, jungle fowl, lechwe, nilgai, oryx, ostrich, rhea and sitatunga, making for a varied and intriguing family day out.  

For those seeking out creep-crawlies, then the Knowsley Safari Park Bug House has an abundance of snakes, lizards and other exotic species  such as leaf-cutter ants and death’s head cockroaches.  

Besides the more unusual residents of Knowsley Safari Park, native species are represented by  goats, sheep, Highland cattle and horses at the Children’s Mizzy Lake Farm, which adds an extra dimension to a family day out with its petting paddocks and free-range creatures. 

Among the other residents that ticket holders can confront are turkeys, Mules, Llama, Pigs, Rabbits and Guinea Pigs. Additionally, at the far end of the farm is a swan sanctuary with black and mute swans, and many other birds. Among them are pea fowl and 10 species of waterfowl that nest around the lake, along with kestrels, buzzards and Woodpecker in the adjacent woodland (and falconry displays are regularly staged). For twitchers, it’s just the ticket, with sightings of Greylag Goose, Tufted Duck, Moorhen, Coot, Little Grebe, Great Crested Grebe and Kingfisher. Indeed, Knowsley Safari Park nurtures native British wildlife with its woods, grassland and water, which harbour stoats, weasels, grey and red squirrels, and Brown Hares, while Lapwings and Oystercatchers fly over the Safari Drive. 

Plants at Knowsley Safari Park include Bee and Pyramid orchids, as well as fungi ranging from Puffballs to Stinkhorns. The development of all these flora and fauna features are outlined at the family attraction’s education centre and safari school, while groups can learn from experts about conservation and other aspects of the working of Knowsley Safari Park.    

Besides all the fun to be had with the animals as part of a family day out, there are some 20 Amusement Rides, including Jungle Dodgems custom-built for Knowsley Safari Park with unique animal design cars, flying Bumble Bees, the Rattlesnake, Happy Bugs, the Safari Train and Jungle Safari, and a Ranger Patrol ride. Other highlights for children on a family day out are a Carousel, the Lakeside Railway, a Roundabout, Mini and large Pirate Ships, a Bouncy Castle, Honeypot Bears, the Stardancer and Swing Chairs.  

For those seeking the ultimate animal experience, Ranger Days offer a superb family day out, taking in a guided tour of everything from the creepy crawlies to one of the UK’s largest herds of African elephants. Birthdays are catered for as well (details at the website), and with a Souvenir Shop, Picnic Areas and Oasis Restaurant, Knowsley Safari Park is a family attraction that covers all bases. There’s even a bus tour service for ticket holders, and with disabled facilities throughout, it really is a family attraction that everyone can enjoy. 

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Knowsley Safari Park

Knowsley Safari Park offers an incredible adventure with its Safari Drive and Foot Safari. Hop into your vehicle and embark on a thrilling Safari Drive, where you’ll encounter a wide array of captivating animals roaming freely in their natural habitats. For a closer look, explore the Foot Safari and interact with a diverse range of fascinating creatures. Don’t miss the exciting Baboon Bus experience, where you can observe mischievous baboons up close. With a helpful safari map, you can navigate the park’s vast grounds and make the most of your immersive wildlife journey.

• African Lions
• Amur Tigers
• Bactrian Camel
• California Sea Lion
• Common Eland
• Eastern Kiang
• Eld’s Deer
• European Bison
• European Moose
• Forest Buffalo

Opened: July 1971 Number of animals: 750 Yearly attendance: 600.000

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Prescot L34 4AN

Phone Number

0151 430 9009

[email protected]

https://www.knowsleysafariexperience.co.uk/

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Secret Life of the Safari Park: Where is Knowsley Safari Park, how much does it cost and list of animals

C hannel 4 has gone behind the the scenes of one of the country's most popular tourist attractions. Secret Life of the Safari Park delves into the lives of the extraordinary animals at Knowsley Safari.

The safari park has the longest safari drive in the UK. Families have been visiting for the past 50 years to catch a rare glimpse of a variety of wild animals from across the world.

The series starts tonight (Thursday, January 4), where Secret Life of the Safari Park will offer "behind-the-scenes access, showing extraordinary footage of the amazing animals that live here, the dedicated keepers who look after them, and some of our hilarious visitors.," Knowsley Safari says on its website .

READ MORE: Mark Wright says it 'couldn't be further from truth' as he defends 'incredible' wife Michelle Keegan in rare comments

It adds: "Every week at 8pm we'll take you on a captivating journey into the incredible lives of some of the rarest and most endangered creatures on earth. Secret Life of the Safari Park is a unique opportunity to get to know the fascinating background stories of our animals, all of which you can see here."

Viewers will also be introduced to visitors that were willing to have their reactions to the animals caught on dashcams. Ahead of the new series, which starts this week, a teaser trailer was shared on the park's Facebook page. Makers said that the docuseries "will showcase Knowsley Safari like you've never seen before"

Where is Knowsley Safari Park?

Knowsley Safari is a tourist attraction near Prescot, which is a town within the borough of Knowsley in Merseyside.

Address: Prescot L34 4AN

How much does it cost?

General admission

• Adult Admission: From £17.50 to £25.00. Aged 16-59
• Child Admission: From £17.50 to £22.50. Aged 3 - 15
• Senior Admission: From £15.00 to £22.50. Aged 60+
• Child Under 3 Admission: Free Aged 0, 1 and 2 years
• Nimbus Access Card: Free. From January 1, the park will only accept the Access Card with a +1 symbol as evidence that an essential companion is required.
• Membership Holder: Free

Membership fees

• Adult Membership: £66.00. One year
• Child Membership: £51.00. One year
• Child & Ride Membership: £93.00. One year
• Ride Membership: £42.00. One year
• Senior Membership: £51.00. One year
• Direct debit options from £3.50

The animals

There are over 700 animals to see at the park. Notable ones including lions and tigers, rhinos, meerkats and giraffes.

Here is a list of the animals you can expect to see:

• African Lion
• Bactrian Camel
• Bateleur Eagle
• California Sea Lion
• Common Eland
• Eastern Kiang
• European Bison
• European Moose
• Forest Buffalo
• Iberian Wolf
• Lowland Tapir
• Pere David's Deer
• Red River Hog
• Roan Antelope
• White Rhino

The first episode will be broadcast on Thursday, January 4 at 8pm with catch up available on All 4.

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Omsk: Western Siberia's hidden gem

A city view of Omsk. Source: Dmitry Feoktistov

Omsk was founded in 1716 when a wooden fort was constructed to house a Cossack unit in the area to protect the expanding Russian frontier from Central Asian nomadic incursions. It served various administrative functions throughout the 1800s and became infamous as a place of exile and incarceration. The city was rundown when selected as a hub for the Trans-Siberian railway in the 1890s. Many international trade companies and foreign consulates relocated here and the remnants of their offices can still be found in the city today.

The mystery of Kolchak’s gold

Omsk became the headquarters of the anti-Bolshevik white army led by Admiral Aleksandr Kolchak in 1918. In late 1918 there was a revolt in the city initiated by a leftist faction (Socialist Revolutionary Party or SPs) with 500 rebel deaths at the hands of Cossacks and Czechoslovak soldiers, a major factor in convincing the SPs to join the Bolsheviks. There is a large Soviet-era monument to the uprising at the corner of Lenina street and Broz Tito street.  

Kolchak was entrusted with a large portion of the Tsarist’s gold reserves, yet amazingly lost much of it. Supposedly 250 million rubles were lost (about $8 million at the time). Legend has it that they were buried near the village of Taiga, yet numerous excavations have turned up nothing. The area still attracts the occasional fortune seeker.

Kolchak’s headquarters are located at what is today the  Omsk Regional Archives  at Broz Tito St., 3. Nothing shows how much times have changed as the imposing Kolchak statue that was unveiled in 2012 around the corner. The statue guards  Kolchak restaurant , a four-story culinary complex featuring a steak house, an Irish pub, a Central Asian café and an Italian eatery.  For more details on where and how to dig Kolchak's gold, see  Top Ten Mysterious Lost Treasures of Russia

Dostoevsky and the Tsar

At 1.15 million people Omsk dwarfs the region’s second largest city, Tara (population 28,000). The city is split by the River Irtysh into two sections (all places of interest are on the right bank) with downtown emanating from the River Om.

Most foreigners have heard of Omsk via writer Fyodor Dostoevsky who spent four years here as a prisoner (1849-1853). He spent most of his time in Omsk in squalor and chains and with no books besides the Bible, however, it left an indelible mark on his memory and influenced his future literary output. There is a statue of the writer in chains grasping a Bible at the corner of Partizanskaya and Spartakovskaya streets, where Dostoevsky undoubtedly stepped many times. A  museum dedicated to the author's time in Omsk  is located nearby at Dostoevskogo St. 1. The local university is also named for him.

A view of the Assumption Cathedral, Omsk. Source: Lori/Legion-Media

Tarskaya Street is one of the city’s oldest thoroughfares. It features a monument to victims of Stalinist repressions and the Tara gates, originally built in 1792 as one of the four entrances to the Omsk fort. Nearby stands the Assumption Cathedral, one of the largest churches in Siberia. Future Tsar Nicholas II laid the first stone here in 1891 when making his way back to St. Petersburg after his Eastern journey.

In Omsk you are never more than a few steps from the village, made clear when one exits the center to the north, where most houses are wooden and roads unpaved. Stroll along Bulatova and Rabinovicha streets, a well-preserved ensemble of wooden architecture.

Omsk’s cultural heritage 

The Pushkin State Library is worth a look with busts of Russian literary figures adorning the front side of the building. At the corner under the big “M” is one of several stations of the never completed Omsk metro. Construction began in 1992, but as of 2014 the project is again dormant due to financing problems.

One of Omsk’s most famous sons is Symbolist painter Mikhail Vrubel (1856-1910). Vrubel ignored contemporary trends and focused on themes from fairy tales, demons and religious subjects and also designed a majolica frieze for the Metropol Hotel in Moscow. Omsk’s Fine Arts Museum is named for him and features a number of  his works .

Milhail Vrubel's painting 'Demon Seated in a Garden' (1890)

Over the years a number of tourists have tripped over the monument to Stepanych. This bust of a plumber rising from a sewer was the idea of Omsk’s former mayor after a trip to Slovakia in the 1990s. Stepanych has become one of the symbols of the city.

Omsk is a hockey town, with one of the major teams,  Avangard , in the KHL, Russia’s premiere professional league. Russian champions on several occasions, check out a match at Omsk Arena. But if you can’t catch a game there’s a large kiosk featuring the team’s merchandise at the airport.

Siberian   punk, jazz and the classics

While Omsk may not be on everyone’s radar musically, it does host a  musical theater  built just after the war. The building on 10 Let Oktyabrya Street is in the form of an enormous sloping grand piano.

A monument to Stepanych, Lenina Street, Omsk. Photo credit: RIA Novosti/Pavel Lisitsyn 

Perhaps Russia’s most famous punk band,  Grazhdanskaya oborona  (Civil Defence), was formed here in 1982. The band was active until 2008 when lead singer Yegor Letov died of heart failure at age 43. Letov is buried at the Staro-Vostochnoe cemetery. A sprawling graveyard with thousands of graves, fans should stop at the administration for help in locating his grave.

In Russia, Omsk is known among the younger, tech-savvy generation primarily because of the “Omsk bird,” also known as Winged Doom. The origin of what became one of Russia’s most ubiquitous memes comes from a painting by German artist Heiko  Müller. One day in 2009 an Internet user posted this painting with the line, “Welcome to Omsk,” at the top. Additional versions menace viewers stating, “Don't try to leave Omsk,” and “Omsk is closer than you think.” Like many popular memes on the Internet, this one went viral and has become something like an unofficial symbol of the city.

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Omsk city, Russia

The capital city of Omsk oblast .

Omsk - Overview

Omsk is one of the largest cities in Russia, a major scientific, cultural, sports, transport, and industrial center. The administrative center of Omsk Oblast, it is the second most populous city in Siberia.

The population of Omsk is about 1,126,000 (2022), the area - 567 sq. km.

The phone code - +7 3812, the postal codes - 644000-644246.

Omsk city flag

Omsk city coat of arms.

Omsk city map, Russia

Omsk city latest news and posts from our blog:.

10 November, 2019 / Tomsk - the view from above .

3 July, 2016 / Omsk - the view from above .

20 October, 2012 / The bear at the gate .

2 August, 2012 / Omsk city from bird's eye view .

14 December, 2011 / Time-lapse video of Omsk city .

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History of Omsk

Foundation of omsk.

The need to build a Russian fortress on the banks of the Irtysh at the mouth of the Om River arose in connection with the steppe nomadic peoples. In particular, with the Oirats, whose tribes in the first decades of the 17th century began to appear within the borders of the Russian state being under the onslaught of their external enemies and as a result of internal civil strife. However, various foreign and domestic political problems of Russia hindered the development and defense of the South Siberian borders.

The situation changed only at the beginning of the 18th century, when the Russian conquest of Siberia intensified. Since Peter I paid great attention to geographical research in the south, the expeditions of that time combined socio-political tasks and tasks of scientific research.

One of such expeditions was led by the Russian military and statesman, associate of Peter I, Major General Ivan Bukhgolts. The goals of the expedition, numbering about 3,000 people, were to search for ore and gold deposits, the discovery of trade routes to India and China, as well as the construction of towns on the Irtysh River.

The expedition left Tobolsk to the south along the Irtysh in July 1715. In the spring of 1716, after a conflict with the Dzungars in the north of today’s Kazakhstan, the remnants of the expedition (about 700 people) withdrew to the mouth of the Om River, where they laid a new fortress named Omsky ostrog (fortified settlement).

According to the census of 1725, 992 people lived in the fortress, in 1742 - 1,092 people. From the first years of its existence, it served as a place of exile for prisoners. After serving hard labor and imprisonment, a lot of them stayed in Omsk for permanent residence.

More Historical Facts…

Omsk in the second half of the 18th century

The ethnic composition of the region’s population was formed in the process of settling the territory. Russians, Germans, Ukrainians, Poles, Belarusians, and representatives of many other nationalities were sent here to serve or were exiled. The indigenous people of the region were the Siberian Tatars and Kazakhs, who switched to a sedentary lifestyle.

The foundation of the second Omsk fortress took place in 1762. The first fortress, although it occupied a favorable geographical position, was wooden and, by the middle of the 18th century, it was dilapidated. In 1765, new stone fortifications were constructed. The first stone structure of the fortress was the Resurrection Military Cathedral, built in 1773 and preserved to this day.

In the end of the 18th century, the Omsk fortress was one of the largest structures in the eastern part of the Russian Empire, its area was more than 30 hectares. In 1782, it was transformed into a town named Omsk within the Tobolsk Governorate. In 1785, the coat of arms of Omsk was approved.

Omsk became the center of management of the Siberian transport routes and the Siberian Cossack army, which not only guarded the South Siberian borders, but also made a huge contribution to the economic development of the steppe expanses of Kazakhstan, the annexation of Central Asia to the Russian Empire.

Omsk in the 19th century

The fire of 1819 destroyed almost half of the town including the archive and the magistrate of Omsk with all the first archival documents. Therefore information about the life of Omsk in the 18th - early 19th centuries is scarce and fragmentary. In 1825, the population of the town was about 9,000 people.

In 1829, the town’s development plan was approved. It was made by the famous Petersburg architect V.I. Geste, who took the city of St. Petersburg as a model with its wide avenues, huge neighborhoods, fountains, cast-iron bridges, and an abundance of green spaces.

The composition of the population of Omsk was not quite usual. In the middle of the 19th century, since Omsk was the center of the military and civil administration, the proportion of the military in the local population reached about 60%.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (one of the greatest psychological novelists in world literature), who served a term of hard labor in the Omsk prison in 1850-1854, in a letter to his brother gave Omsk the following description: “Omsk is a disgusting town. There are almost no trees. In summer, heat and wind with sand, in winter, a snowstorm. I have not seen nature. The town is dirty, military and highly depraved.”

By the second half of the 19th century, Omsk in its development outstripped many steppe towns and became not only an administrative, but also a commercial and industrial center. In 1861, in Omsk, there were 2,122 houses (31 stone houses), 34 factories and plants, about 20 thousand residents.

In 1892, the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway began, which gave a new impetus to the economy of Siberian towns and positively influenced Omsk. The development of the Trans-Siberian Railway caused an increase in the urban population due to migrants who came to work from the central part of the Russian Empire. According to the 1897 census, 37.3 thousand people lived in Omsk. The town had 14 streets with a total length of more than 140 km and 13 squares.

Omsk in the first half of the 20th century

The beginning of the 20th century was a time of great changes for Siberia. Mass peasant colonization caused a sharp leap in the development of the region’s economy, primarily its agrarian sector, and the Trans-Siberian Railway ensured the inclusion of the local economy in the system of the All-Russian and European markets.

Due to its favorable economic and geographical position - at the intersection of the railway and the Irtysh River, in the middle of a vast agricultural territory - Omsk quickly turned into a large transport, trade and industrial center of Western Siberia and Governor-Generalship of the Steppes (Eastern and Central Kazakhstan).

Wholesale trade in bread, butter and other agricultural products was concentrated here. Omsk also became one of the industrial, social and cultural centers of Western Siberia. By 1903, the city’s population grew to 60 thousand people. In 1914, it had about 134.8 thousand residents. Omsk became the most populous city in Siberia.

During the Civil War on the territory of the former Russian Empire, from June 1918 to November 1919, Omsk was the residence of the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral Alexander Kolchak, who declared this city the capital of white Russia opposing red Russia of the Bolsheviks. Soviet power was finally established in the city in 1920.

In the summer of 1921, an event took place that had a decisive impact on the cultural and economic life of Omsk. The functions of the administrative center of Siberia were transferred from it to the city of Novonikolaevsk (future Novosibirsk). In 1934, Omsk became the administrative center of a separate Omsk Oblast.

Over the years of industrialization, Omsk became one of the largest centers for agricultural engineering in the USSR. The metal-working industry also developed at a rapid pace. In 1939, Omsk numbered more than 288 thousand people.

During the Second World War, about 200 industrial enterprises were evacuated to Omsk, as well as 60 hospitals, dozens of educational institutions, theaters, museums, and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Omsk after the Second World War

In the post-war years, new enterprises were put into operation in Omsk, all existing factories and plants were reconstructed and expanded. The industrial potential of the city was also strengthened by the Omsk oil refinery, the largest in the country. In connection with the rapid development of industry, especially petrochemical enterprises, the ecological situation deteriorated. The concentration of harmful substances in the air sharply increased. In 1964, the population of Omsk was about 702 thousand people.

In the 1970s-1980s, Omsk developed rapidly. In 1975, the city’s population exceeded 1 million. The most pressing problem was the ecological situation. Omsk was in the top 10 cities of Russia in terms of environmental pollution. Another problem that required an immediate solution was the development of passenger transport. The capacity of Omsk streets was exhausted, and therefore the construction of the subway became an urgent issue.

The economic crisis that gripped Russia after the collapse of the USSR had a negative impact on the economy of Omsk and the region as a whole. There was a significant decline in industrial production, construction volumes fell, and unemployment rose. A lot of organizations of the defense complex, research institutes, and design bureaus found themselves in a deep crisis without the state defense order.

The share of mechanical engineering and metalworking, light industry, and, to a lesser extent, chemical and petrochemical, forestry and woodworking industries decreased. At the same time, the share of the fuel industry, energy, and construction materials industry began to grow.

In the 2000s, Omsk again became one of the most important economic centers of Western Siberia with a developing mechanical engineering, petrochemical industry, various branches of the woodworking, construction industry, and a highly productive agro-industrial complex. In recent years, Omsk has also acquired the features of one of the largest Siberian centers of entrepreneurship and banking/financial activities.

Architecture of Omsk

On the street in Omsk

Author: Tim Brown

Yak-9 fighter aircraft in front of the aerospace engineering company Polyot in Omsk

The Omsk Cadet Corps

Author: Stanislav Katsko

Omsk - Features

Omsk is located in the south of the West Siberian Plain at the confluence of the Om River into the Irtysh, about 150 km from the border of Russia with Kazakhstan. About 60% of all residents of Omsk Oblast live in Omsk. The City Day of Omsk is celebrated on the first Saturday of August.

The city’s coat of arms is very similar to the first coat of arms of Omsk approved by Empress Catherine II in 1785. It depicts a part of the brick fortifications, which symbolizes the reason for its foundation as a fortress and the center of the Siberian defensive line.

Omsk belongs to the temperate climatic zone with a continental climate of the forest-steppe of the West Siberian belt. It is distinguished by an abundance of sunlight. The average air temperature in January is minus 16.3 degrees Celsius, in July - plus 19.6 degrees Celsius. The highest wind speeds are observed in winter and spring, which is the reason for frequent snow and dust storms.

In the past, the ecological situation in Omsk was very unfavorable. Since 2011, the city’s environmental development rating has increased significantly. This was the result of large-scale modernization of many large industries (including the Omsk oil refinery). Today, road transport is the main source of air pollution in the city.

The level of pollution of the Omsk rivers - Irtysh and Om - remains consistently high. Swimming in them is prohibited. While industrial effluents are becoming more environmentally friendly, sewers are releasing waste products including diesel fuel and petroleum products into the rivers. Dust raised by dust storms is also a serious problem for the city as it contains a lot of harmful substances including lead.

The city’s industry is based on oil refining, petrochemistry, chemical industry, mechanical engineering (production of aerospace equipment, armored vehicles, agricultural equipment). Omsk is a major transport junction - the Trans-Siberian Railway runs through the city from west to east, and the navigable Irtysh River crosses it from south to north. Omsk Airport offers regular flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Surgut, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Salekhard, Kazan, Krasnodar, Sochi.

The unfinished subway of Omsk has become famous in Russia thanks to its only one fully built station. Its construction began back in 1992. However, due to funding problems, the completion of the first line was postponed numerous times. In 2019, it was finally decided to permanently stop construction. For local residents, because of the long wait for the completion of the construction, the Omsk metro symbolizes unrealizable hopes, they talk about it with irony.

In Omsk, there are practically no buildings higher than 50 meters, according to this parameter it is one of the lowest cities with a population of over one million. 130 architectural monuments are concentrated in the central part of the city, almost half of the total number.

Main Attractions of Omsk

Dormition Cathedral - the largest church in Omsk located in the very center of the city. The original church was built in 1891-1898. In 1935, it was completely destroyed. In 2005-2007, an exact copy of the building was restored in its original place. This is one of the most beautiful buildings in Omsk. At night, the building is illuminated and looks especially majestic. Tarskaya Street, 7.

Irtysh Embankment - the main walking street of Omsk with a picturesque view of the Irtysh River. Built in the middle of the 20th century, the embankment was reconstructed in the 2000s. You can walk along the alley on foot, ride rollerblades or a bike.

Merchant Batyushkin’s Mansion (1902). This architectural monument is located on the Irtysh Embankment. It is also known as the Kolchak’s House because Alexander Kolchak, the Supreme Ruler of Russia, lived in this building in 1919. One part of the building is occupied by the registry office of the Central District of Omsk. The Center for the Study of the History of the Russian Civil War is also open here. Irtyshskaya Naberezhnaya Street, 9.

Omsk State Museum of History and Local Lore - one of the oldest museums in Siberia and Russia founded in 1878. In total, this museum has over 200 thousand various objects of cultural, historical and artistic value. The museum is especially proud of such exhibits as the cast-iron figures of the Chinese lions Shi-Tzu, presented to the museum from China in 1895, as well as the skeleton of a woolly mammoth almost 3 meters high. Lenina Street, 23?.

Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after M.A. Vrubel - one of the largest museums of fine arts in Siberia. It has collections of foreign and Russian art from antiquity to the present day. In total, there are over 22 thousand works by painters, graphic artists and sculptors, as well as more than 1.5 thousand rare folios.

Walking through the exhibition halls, you can admire the canvases of Shishkin, Aivazovsky, Surikov, Repin, Serov, Vereshchagin. The exhibition of rare icons dating from the 17th-20th centuries is of constant interest among visitors, as well as a unique collection of jewelry made of precious metals found in the Scythian and Sarmatian burial mounds. Two buildings of the museum are located at Lenina Street 3 and 23.

In November 2019, a new exhibition was opened in a historical building at Muzeynaya Street, 4 - the exhibition of art of the 20th-21st centuries. The Hermitage-Siberia Center is located here too - the first representation of The State Hermitage Museum (the second-largest art museum in the world) beyond the Urals.

Chokana Valikhanova Street - a pedestrian street located in the historic part of Omsk. The street is decorated with abstract architectural forms, flower beds, wrought-iron lanterns. The walking area ends with an observation deck with a picturesque view of the Irtysh River.

Museum of Kondraty Belov . The museum of this landscape painter born in Omsk can be found in a picturesque wooden house, which is considered one of the most interesting architectural monuments of Omsk. The exposition tells about the life and work of Kondraty Belov, as well as about the history of the building itself.

In total, this museum has about 700 exhibits. The permanent exhibition also includes works by Kondraty Belov’s son Stanislav and paintings by some other local artists. In addition, temporary exhibitions of contemporary Omsk artists are regularly held here. Chokana Valikhanova Street, 10.

Plumber Stepanych Monument - an unusual sculpture located in the center of Omsk, which you can literally stumble upon while walking along Lenin Street between the houses #12 and #14. Leaning out of the hatch, the plumber is depicted as realistic and life-size as possible. It is among the most photographed monuments in Omsk. There is a similar sculpture in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.

Lyuba Monument . This sculpture, located on the opposite side of Lenin Street from the monument to the plumber Stepanych, is especially loved by Omsk residents and tourists, who love to be photographed against its background.

This beauty in a lace dress with a neckline and a crinoline sitting on an openwork bench and reading a novel had a real prototype - Lyubov (diminutively Lyuba or Lyubasha) Gasford, the wife of the Governor-General of Siberia, who lived in Omsk in the 19th century and died at a young age due to illness. One of the streets of Omsk and the park are named in her memory. She is a local symbol of femininity and beauty.

Omsk Fire Tower - a picturesque architectural monument built at the beginning of the 20th century. Inside the tower there are museum expositions dedicated to the local fire brigade and the history of tower construction. Internatsionalnaya Street, 41?.

Park of Culture and Rest named after the 30th anniversary of the Komsomol - a popular place for walks, recreation and entertainment of Omsk residents and tourists, which has retained “the spirit of the Soviet era” in its name. Today, on an area of 73 hectares, several zones have been organized, various types of recreation are presented. There are walking alleys, ponds, water activities, for example, riding on hydro-scooters.

The ice town is open in winter, the Return of the Dinosaurs exhibition - in summer. The “House Upside Down” exposition is also popular with tourists. This park is a place for mass festivities, city celebrations and events. Maslenitsa, Christmas, City Day, and other holidays are celebrated here. Maslennikova Street, 136.

Natural Park “Bird Harbor” - a specially protected area located on the path of bird migration in the central part of Omsk. During autumn flights, up to 3 thousand birds stop here for rest. It is a great place to enjoy nature, walk along the eco-trail, and observe the life of birds. The park is situated in the floodplain on the left bank of the Irtysh River next to the Victory Park on Yeniseyskaya Street.

Omsk city of Russia photos

Pictures of omsk.

Bogdan Khmelnitsky Monument in Omsk

Lenin Monument in Omsk

Churches of Omsk

Chapel of St. George in Omsk

Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Omsk

Cathedral of the Nativity in Omsk

Sights of Omsk

Fountain with frogs in the park next to the main building of the Agricultural Academy in Omsk

Author: Alexey Pavlov

Church of St. Nicholas in Omsk

Exaltation of the Holy Cross Cathedral in Omsk

Author: Stanislav Vosinsky

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