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Hi there! My name is Maxim Milyutin. I am based in Irkutsk, Russia's Siberia. Traveller, organiser of local travel talks, and owner of Irkutsk hostel. Travel for me is not necessary movement to some place far away from home, it's a state of soul. That's why I like to travel around my home region and and abroad as well. I'm happy to share my knowledge about Baikal with everybody! Feel free to ask me about Lake Baikal via the contact form Tatiana Baksheeva, our previous blog runner, remains with us as a contributor.

Some history of Italians in Irkutsk and Lake Baikal

By Tatiana, on September 20th, 2010%
Nothing happens without a reason. Some years ago an Italian friend of mine intended to launch a joint business project with participation of specialists from Irkutsk and Italy, and some initial plans were developed, however, due to various reasons, the project has never commenced.

About 1 000 Italians worked at the Circum-Baikal Railway construction

One day, while preparing the project, I realized that if an Italian delegation comes to Irkutsk, they would definitely ask me if there were any historical ties between Italy and Irkutsk, and I wanted to find such information. About a week passed without any attempt on my side to search for the information, but the Universe was helpful as always – in a local magazine I came across an interesting article about Italians in Irkutsk. And it encouraged me to search for more information. 

So, here are some facts of incredible and often extreme adventures of Italians in Irkutsk and at Lake Baikal. This historical information is limited, and I realize that a deeper research demands time. It would be good to learn more about these historical facts, as many questions arise, and I hope that you can help me to find out more facts, and we can get a better coverage of this topic together.

The story began at the end of the XIX century. Read more »

10 comments - (Comments are closed)   Excursions, History, Irkutsk, Lake Baikal, Travel   , ,  

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