Tomsk, a city in the eastern part of Western Siberia and located on Tom River, is the capital of the Tomsk Region.
City of Students
In 1896, the first polytechnic university in Siberia was established in Tomsk, and by the 1940s the city gained a reputation of a Russian centre of science and education. Nowadays, over one fifth of its population (over 117,000 people) are students.
This Is Siberia's Oldest Centre of Science and Innovation
Tomsk is the oldest scientific, educational, and innovation centre with about 15 R&D organizations, 8 institutions of higher education, and a special economic zone. The hi-tech business and IT industry are well developed in the city.
Multiconfessional City
The most heavily represented religious confession of Tomsk is Orthodox Christianity and there are many Orthodox cathedrals and churches here. There are also two mosques, a synagogue, a Lutheran church, and centres of other religious confessions.
City of Sports
Rowing, basketball, volleyball, mountain climbing, sports tourism, equestrian sport, ski sports, snowboarding, scuba-diving, and chess are dynamically developing in the city. The city is home to several stadiums and swimming pools, and there is an 11-metre climbing wall at Tomsk Polytechnic University, plus several sporting facilities, the Palace of Shows and Sports, bowling facilities, karting tracks, ski jumps, and ski tracks.
There's a local football team "Tom" and a women's volleyball team "Tomichka-Jupiter", whose home games are hosted at local stadiums.
Dynamic City
Tomsk is ideal for those who love sports and an active lifestyle. For instance, the best scuba-diving club in Russia is located here. It was established by graduates of Tomsk State University, and has already won a number of awards at prestigious national and international competitions. This is the alma mater of dozens of masters of sport in scuba diving.
The Sosnovy Bor recreation camp within the city offers wonderful skiing and skating opportunities. Skis, snow racers, sledges, and ice skates are all available for rent. Summer is a great time for cyclists who can enjoy riding on asphalt tracks in the shadow of the trees.
A travel festival is held in Tomsk every year. Hiking, water and alpine skiing, diving, mountain and rock climbing, scientific and geographical expeditions, hang-gliding, snowboarding, hitch-hiking, yachting, and many more pursuits are all discussed at the festival. The festival includes multiple contests of photos, films, travel stories, guitar and poetry concerts, pot-holing best practices, and paragliding.
Near the City
Entertainment Forest park is located 15 km away from Tomsk and includes an extreme assault course, a climbing wall, and many play areas. The Zarnitsa club holds strikeball games (imitating real battle action) on different sites within and outside the city. The participants are provided a military uniform and copies of weapons from different countries of the world.
There's a unique natural monument 40 km away from Tomsk – the Talovskye Chashy. These are limestone structures formed as cups (Chashy), filled with water and covered with a rare mineral birnessite. Water in these cups doesn't freeze even in winter. It is considered to have very strong healing properties.
