Founded in 1932, the Museum of Nature and Man stands out for its unusual architecture and also houses Khanty-Mansiysk’s tourist information centre. Visitors can get a city map, a guidebook, a special guest discount card, and information about the city’s attractions and tourist services. The centre’s information services are free of charge. If you plan to rely on a particular service, check its availability on site.
Nature park, plants and animals
Samarsky Chugas Nature Park protects valuable natural complexes, rare plants and animals, pristine forests, and unique landscapes at the confluence of the Ob and Irtysh rivers. Its focus thus ranges from forests and landscapes to the diversity of plants and animals.
The nature park’s greenhouse and nursery complex contains a collection of around 300 plant species. At the Shapshinskoye Urochishche Environmental Education Centre, visitors can see an enclosure complex with 15 animal species. The collection and the enclosures have different focuses: plants take centre stage in one, animals in the other. Check the latest information about the facility before visiting.
Mammoth art and striking buildings
Eleven bronze mammoth sculptures stand in the cultural and tourism complex “Samarovskiy Ostanets. Arkheopark.” At the foot of Samarovsky Ostanets rock, a sculpture park features animals of the Pleistocene and people of the Stone Age. The mammoths form a bronze group alongside a broader range of prehistoric wildlife and human history motifs.
A different architectural ensemble defines the centre of Victory Park: the marble and granite “Memorial of Glory.” The “In the Name of the Resurrection of Christ” cathedral complex was designed and built in honour of the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of Christ. It includes a cascade of fountains and an Orthodox park. From the hill on which the complex stands, visitors can enjoy a view of the centre of Khanty-Mansiysk.
Art adds a smaller accent in Boris Losev Park. There, the small bronze angel figurine “To Love or Not to Love” sits on a bronze sphere and plucks the petals of a daisy, as if asking: “He loves me, he loves me not?”
Museums and Ob-Ugric culture
The State Art Museum exhibits works of Russian art, icons dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries, and works by emerging artists. The Museum of Geology, Oil and Gas complements these themes with minerals and meteorites. The two museums offer different collections, ranging from art and icons to geological objects.
At the Torum Maa open-air museum, exhibitions present the traditional way of life of the Khanty and Mansi, also known as the Ob-Ugrians. The “Okhotnichya tropa” offers insights into the hunting culture of the Khanty and Mansi. The exhibitions on traditional life are thus complemented by a separate trail devoted to hunting.
Performances by the “Solntse” Theatre of Ob-Ugric Peoples present the traditional culture, mythology, customs and beliefs of the Khanty, Mansi and Ob-Ugrians. Its main stage is located in the House of Friendship of Peoples. The Yugra-Classic Concert and Theatre Centre also has a large organ with a unique keyboard clad in mammoth bone. The keyboard’s unusual material provides another link to the city’s mammoth motif.
Discover more destinations: Ishluchinsk, Beryozovo, Surgut, Belyarsky, Nizhnesortymsky, Nyagan, Uray, Megion
For the main travel overview: Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug.
