Fish concretions, city history and an hour-long walking route give Nazarovo a distinct cultural profile. The museum combines unusual natural history with themes from city life; there are also memorial sites and a designated birch grove. When planning, it is worth treating the local excursion as a separate block of time and distinguishing the other sites from it.
Museum and City History
Nazarovo’s museum houses fish concretions whose cores are formed by fish; their age has been determined to be 350 million years. They are considered unique in Russia. The Nazarovo Museum and Exhibition Centre also explores the city’s history and the life and everyday activities of the local population. A distinctive geological feature and local history are thus presented as separate themes.
The history of the Trinity parish also provides a specific point of reference in time: its two-storey stone church was completed in 1820. The church project involved parishioners from Nazarovo and two other villages.
City Excursion and Outdoor Sites
Staff at the Museum and Exhibition Centre lead city excursions for visitors and locals. The excursion “Po puti pamyatnikov” is a one-hour walk through Nazarovo, organised by the centre. It visits the memorial to city residents who died in the Great Patriotic War. The time commitment is clearly defined; participants must be at least ten years old. Confirm the current schedule with the organiser in advance.
Another place to visit is Nazarovo’s designated birch grove. The grove has concrete paths and is suitable for visits. A different perspective on the city’s history is offered by the Marina Alexandrova Ladynina Square, which features a monument to actress Marina Ladynina and an Avenue of Stars. This distinguishes a route with a specific memorial destination from a public space with two named features.
Krasnoyarsk Krai: Further Cultural and Nature Themes
As a broader travel destination, Krasnoyarsk Krai has distinct cultural and nature highlights that should not be attributed to Nazarovo. The Shushenskoye Historical and Ethnographic Museum-Reserve, in the settlement of the same name, depicts a Siberian village from the Russian Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The grounds contain 194 monuments of rural architecture. The wooden buildings include peasant houses, a merchant’s shop, a blacksmith’s forge and a prison fort. In 2011, the architectural and ethnographic complex “Novaya derevnya” opened there, together with a natural landscape park. The museum programmes convey traditions and customs of the past and explore peasant life. They include sampling peasant dishes, gaining an introduction to traditional crafts, and taking part in games, customs and festivals. Before travelling, check which programmes are running on your dates.
Ergaki Nature Park is in the south of Krasnoyarsk Krai. In summer, visitors can hike on foot and take horseback tours; in winter, activities on the snowy slopes include skiing, snowboarding, snowmobile tours and snowshoeing. Routes range in difficulty from category two to category six. Tours can be organised in both summer and winter; confirm current availability when planning your trip.
The landscape and walking routes in Krasnoyarskie Stolby National Park offer a different experience. From the eastern entrance, the Ermak, Kitayskaya stenka, Maly Berkut and Storozhevoy rocks, the Vorobushki rock group and the Takmak rock massif can be reached in almost any weather. The main routes are marked and range in duration from 30 minutes to a full day; the Krasnoyarskiy khayking mobile app makes it easier to find your way. A separately described route from the eastern entrance to Takmak Rock and back is about four kilometres long and takes three hours. Bus No. 37 goes to the “Stolby (Vostochny vkhod)” stop; from there, an access road of about one kilometre, which is unpaved, leads to the eastern entrance. Check the bus service locally before travelling.
For the broader travel overview: City of Nazarovo.
