Arkhangelsk had been founded in 1584, but until 20th century nearly all buildings were wooden. That is why there are not so many examples of old architecture here. Outside of the center buildings become very typical, but the core part of the city has some diversity.
Orientation is easy from Lenin Square, where the only Arkhangelsk's skyscraper is built. This 24-floor administrative building is seen from many parts of the city and can act as a lighthouse for a traveller. Streets called ulitsa (улица) are positioned perpendicularly to the river, those are called prospekt (проспект) are parallel to the river. Area of interest is limited by Dvina's embankment (Naberezhnaya) in the west, Kuznechevsky Bridge in the north, Obvodny Kanal prospekt in the east, and the Sea and River Station (Морской и Речной Вокзал) in the south. Most of attractions e.g. views, buildings, museums, restaurants, theatres etc are located within this shape.
Northern Dvina's embankment and around. Arkhangelsk is the theme of Russian 500 rubles banknote, and walking through the embankment you can find all the sites printed on it. For example, the monument of Peter The Great (photo below). Other monuments are generally belong to Soviet period, including the canonical Lenin's monument at the relevant square. There is also a couple of interesting churches around Naberezhnaya, including the former German Kirche (now used as city concert hall). River views and ships also compensate Arkhangelsk's architectural scarsity. Most of Arkhangelsk's street events are organized at Naberezhnaya, in summer the embankment is the favorite place of walking for locals. To find places for eating / drinking go to Troitsky prospekt. Natural history museum and the gallery of arts are located at Lenin Square. �
Wooden Arkhangelsk. Wooden buildings are being gradually moved out of the city, but still Arkhangelsk contains many sections of such 1-2 floor houses. Some of them look beautiful, others are more like slums, but anyway wooden Arkhangelsk is a certain point of interest and worth a walking visit. Even some sidewalks are still made of wood, crunching under feet. Most beautiful and well-maintained wooden buildings are concentrated at Chumbarova-Luchinskogo street (улица Чумбарова-Лучинского) which is planned as a "museum street" by the city authorities. �
A wooden church in Malye Korely
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Arkhangelsk
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Arkhangelsk - updated May 2024
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Arkhangelsk Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
