Архитектурно-этнографический музей “Тальцы” / Taltsy Museum of Architecture and Ethnography
Алеутская, 11
150 rubles general entrance fee (Other prices may apply for special events.)
~100 rubles Marshrutka ride from Irkutsk to the museum
Located about 40 minutes outside the city of Irkutsk, on the way to the popular Baikal shore town of Listvyanka, is the Taltsy Museum of Architecture and Ethnography. Taltsy is an open-air museum of Siberian history from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries. Acres of forested land are filled with wooden structures replicating the buildings of historical Siberian villages, including houses, farmsteads, churches, and a school building. Visitors to the museum can walk the museum grounds, stopping in at each building to see tools, clothes, furniture, and other everyday objects from past centuries of Eastern Siberian village life. You can catch a glimpse of the infamous Russian stove, known to all lovers of Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, and other masters of Russian literature as the warmest and most comfortable spot in the house.
Perhaps one of the most unique things to see at Taltsy is the exhibit of Buryat yurts, featuring both a cloth yurt and a wooden yurt, inside of which is replicated the distinct men’s and women’s sides of the yurt, and the sleeping area and fire pit between them.
The museum is located directly on the shore of the Angara river and is especially beautiful in mid September just when the leaves are changing color and beginning to fall. On a sunny day, bring a lunch and stop for a picnic at the bottom of the grassy hill overlooking the Angara river before you head on your way. You’ll also find tables selling Baikal souvenirs at the museum, but be aware that there is a greater selection of souvenirs available at Listvyanka, and a greater opportunity for price comparison there.
