Why is the railway near Irkutsk an architectural monument?
Circum-Baikal Railway (CBR) runs From Port Baikal station to Mysovaya station, skirting the southern tip of Lake Baikal. Construction began in the late 19th century and was officially opened in 1905. It connected the two sections of the Trans-Siberian Railway, built earlier, thus completing a full circle. This section of the Circum-Baikal Railway is called the "golden buckle" of Russia's railway belt. It was also called "golden" due to the complexity of its engineering structures and its cost—construction of a kilometer of the line cost 130 rubles, while other sections of the railway cost 93 rubles per kilometer.
The section of the Circum-Baikal Railway that runs along the edge of the lake is a monument to early 20th-century engineering. This 84-kilometer stretch of the Circum-Baikal Railway, from Baikal Station to Kultuk Station, is a historical and architectural monument under state protection. This section built 424 engineering structures, 39 tunnels totaling nearly nine kilometers, galleries, bridges, and viaducts, all created by Italian and Albanian artisans. In terms of the scope, complexity, and cost of the work, the project is unparalleled in Russia.
The history of the construction of the Circum-Baikal Railway also has tragic twists. was used Prison labor, which was used repeatedly to revolt due to intolerable working conditions. The revolts were brutally suppressed, and then a factory for special footwear for prisoners opened nearby—they were issued a couple of sizes too small to prevent convicts from escaping. Furthermore, the Circum-Baikal Railway was constantly subject to collapses and damage: between 1930 and 1984, more than 1200 such incidents occurred here.
It currently operates as a tourist route, as the original Circum-Baikal Railway is partially destroyed: in 1956, the first 72 km of the route were discontinued – the section between the Irkutsk-Sortirovochny and Baikal was dismantled, and in 1958 the embankment of the dismantled road was flooded when the reservoir was filled Irkutsk Hydroelectric Power StationThe Circum-Baikal Railway has lost its strategic importance. In the 1980s, there were discussions about completely demolishing it and replacing it with a highway, but this never came to fruition. As a tourist route, the remains of the Circum-Baikal Railway are in demand, and these places with views of Lake Baikal are worth the effort.
