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Samara

Sights in Samara

  1. Children’s Art Gallery

    The landmark Engineer Klodt’s House, looks like a fairytale castle and is now occupied by the Children’s Art Gallery.

    reviewed

  2. A

    Synagogue

    When the synagogue was built in 1903, it served over 1000 people, the largest Jewish community in the Volga region. The building was turned into a bread factory during Soviet times and now stands abandoned.

    reviewed

  3. B

    St George Cathedral

    On the east side of the square, the St George Cathedral honours the heroes of the Great Patriotic War.

    reviewed

  4. C

    Ulyanov Family House-Museum

    The Ulyanov family house-museum is where Vladimir Ilych and his family lived for three years from 1890 to 1893.

    reviewed

  5. D

    Iversky Women’s Monastery

    The Iversky Women’s Monastery, founded in 1850, was home to 360 nuns, mostly daughters of local merchants.

    reviewed

  6. E

    Alabin Museum

    The massive Alabin Museum has exhibits on regional palaeontology and archaeology, including dinosaur fossils found in the Zhiguli Hills.

    reviewed

  7. F

    Catholic Church

    After the suppression of Polish uprisings in the Russian empire in 1830, a small group of Polish exiles settled in Samara. In 1902 this community built the Gothic Catholic Church.

    reviewed

  8. Ploshchad Slavy

    Ploshchad Slavy is a memorial to Samara's role in WWII. The shiny 53m-high statue of a worker holding a pair of wings symbolises the city's aviation-related contributions: local factories produced the IL-2, known as the 'flying tank', during WWII.

    reviewed

  9. G

    Pokrovsky Cathedral

    The Pokrovsky Cathedral, built in 1860, was once resplendent in gold, marble and artistry. Apparently these riches proved their value during the 1920s famine, when they were sold to Finland for 32 wagons of bread for Samara residents to eat.

    reviewed

  10. H

    Lutheran Church

    Reminiscent of a medieval German basilica, the Lutheran Church was built by a growing German population, who settled here from the 1760s under Catherine the Great’s agricultural development program. This church often hosts concerts on Sunday afternoons.

    reviewed

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  12. I

    Samara Art Museum

    The Samara Art Museum exhibits mainly Russian art, including works by artists who came to the region to paint. Look for Boyarishina, given by Surikov to a local doctor who treated him when he fell ill. The museum also holds an impressive collection of early Malevich.

    reviewed

  13. J

    Stalin’s Bunker

    Stalin’s Bunker, built nine storeys below the Academy of Culture and Art, never actually served its intended purpose, as Stalin decided to stay in Moscow to direct events. Unfortunately, the administration is pretty Stalinist to individual tourists – it is almost impossible to get in during the summer period when all excursion slots are booked by cruise companies. In winter, you need to call in advance to arrange a visit.

    reviewed