Wooden Architecture

Tomsk's greatest attraction is its 'wooden-lace' architecture - the carved windows and tracery on old log and timber houses. The city combines endless examples of these fine wooden mansions, some grand century-old commercial buildings and a dynamic, modern outlook. The most notable concentration of the wooden lace architecture is along ul Tatarskaya, accessed via steps beside the lovely old house at pr Lenina 56.

Several lesser examples line per Kononova, including number 2 where communist mastermind Kirov lodged in 1905. Close by (but hazardous to reach from per Kononova across a slippery pipe) is the splendid, recently restored Shishkov House. There's even a wooden-lace school, Shkola 43.