Editing Irkutsk (section)

==History==
[[File:Irkutsk Kreml 1735.jpg|thumb|left|Irkutsk Castle in 1735]]

In 1652, Ivan Pokhabov built a ''zimovye'' (winter quarters) near the site of Irkutsk for gold trading and for collecting [[Yasak|fur taxes]] from the [[Buryats]]. In 1661, Yakov Pokhabov built an ''[[ostrog (fortress)|ostrog]]'' (a small fort) nearby.<ref name="Lantzeff">{{cite book |last=Lantzeff |first=George V., and Richard A. Pierce |title=Eastward to Empire: Exploration and Conquest on the Russian Open Frontier, to 1750 |publisher=McGill-Queen's U.P. |year=1973 |location=Montreal }}</ref> The ''ostrog'' gained official town rights from the government in 1686.

The Irkutsk prison, founded in 1661 as an outpost for the advancement of Russian explorers in the Angara region, soon ceased to be only a defensive structure due to the advantage of its geographical position. According to historical documents, 10 years later, in 1671, here, in addition to servicemen and [[yasak]] people, lived "plowed peasants with their wives and children." A [[posad]] appeared, which gave rise to residential quarters of the future city. As for the prison itself, as its influence in the region grew, it was completely rebuilt twice (in 1669 and 1693), expanding in size.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://irk.aif.ru/irk_legend/irk_legend_details/78054 |title=Иркутский острог, кремль и крепость – три названия, одна легенда |date=September 6, 2010 |access-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-date=January 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127040646/https://irk.aif.ru/irk_legend/irk_legend_details/78054 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.irk.ru/news/blogs/archivarius/1014/ |title=Как застраивали Иркутск |date=December 23, 2015 |access-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-date=January 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210122091302/https://www.irk.ru/news/blogs/archivarius/1014/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

The fate of the prison was such that its military-defensive significance was less noticeable than other previously erected forts near the Angara, for example, Bratsk (1631) or Verkholensk (1644). However, its location at the crossroads of colonization, trade and industrial routes predetermined the role of Irkutsk in the history of Eastern Siberia. In 1682 it became the center of an independent region, and in 1686 it received the status of a city. Irkutsk at the beginning of the 18th century was divided into two parts: "small town", or the prison itself, and "big city". The first one started from the bank of the Angara and was a wooden fortress with adjacent buildings. These included the stone building of the provincial chancellery, the house of the vice-governor (former voivodship) with barns and cellars, the Church of the Savior. "Small town" was the administrative center of the vast Irkutsk province since 1731.<ref name="irkipedia.ru">{{Cite web |url=http://irkipedia.ru/content/irkutskiy_ostrog_vozniknovenie_i_osnovnye_etapy_razvitiya_goroda_irkutska |title=Иркутский острог. Возникновение и основные этапы развития города Иркутска |access-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-date=November 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191126184147/http://irkipedia.ru/content/irkutskiy_ostrog_vozniknovenie_i_osnovnye_etapy_razvitiya_goroda_irkutska |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the "big city", as the posad was called, the commercial and economic life of Irkutsk was concentrated. It was inhabited mainly by people from the northern regions of Russia: [[Veliky Ustyug]], [[Yarensk]], [[Pinega]], [[Solvychegodsk]], [[Pereyaslavl-Zalessky]], who brought their traditions, customs, and culture to Siberia.<ref name="irkipedia.ru"/>

The first road connection between [[Moscow]] and Irkutsk, the [[Siberian Route]], was built in 1760, and benefited the town economy. Many new products, often imported from [[China]] via [[Kyakhta]], became widely available in Irkutsk for the first time, including [[gold]], [[diamond]]s, [[fur]], [[wood]], [[silk]], and [[tea]]. In 1821, as part of the [[Mikhail Speransky]]'s reforms, Siberia was administratively divided at the [[Yenisei River]]. Irkutsk became the seat of the Governor-General of East Siberia.

[[File:Irkutsk-club.jpg|thumb|left|Irkutsk [[Assembly of the Nobility]] in the early 1900s]]
In the early 19th century, many Russian artists, officers, and [[nobility|nobles]] were sent into exile in Siberia for their part in the [[Decembrist revolt]] against [[Tsar]] [[Nicholas I of Russia|Nicholas&nbsp;I]]. Irkutsk became the major center of intellectual and social life for these exiles, and they developed much of the city's cultural heritage. They had wooden houses built that were adorned with ornate, hand-carved decorations. Many still survive today, in stark contrast with the standard [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] apartment blocks that surround them.

[[File:Irkutsk 1865.jpg|thumb|left|Epiphany Cathedral and central Irkutsk in 1865]]
By the end of the 19th century, the population consisted of one exiled man for every two locals. People of varying backgrounds, from members of the Decembrist uprising to [[Bolshevik]]s, had been in Irkutsk for many years and had greatly influenced the culture and development of the city. As a result, Irkutsk became a prosperous cultural and educational center in [[Eastern Siberia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Gentes |first=Andrew A. |date=2003 |title=Siberian Exile and the 1863 Polish Insurrectionists According to Russian Sources |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41051062 |journal=Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas |volume=51 |issue=2 |pages=197–217 |jstor=41051062 |issn=0021-4019 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |access-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106003453/https://www.jstor.org/stable/41051062 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Isu - About Irkutsk |url=https://isu.ru/en/about_irkutsk/index.html |access-date=November 6, 2023 |website=официальный сайт ФГБОУ ВО «Иркутский государственный университет» |language=en |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106003455/https://isu.ru/en/about_irkutsk/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Collections from Siberia and the Russian Far East {{!}} Digital Collections from Russia {{!}} Articles and Essays {{!}} Meeting of Frontiers {{!}} Digital Collections {{!}} Library of Congress |url=https://www.loc.gov/collections/meeting-of-frontiers/articles-and-essays/digital-collections-from-russia/siberia-and-the-russian-far-east/ |access-date=November 6, 2023 |website=Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106003453/https://www.loc.gov/collections/meeting-of-frontiers/articles-and-essays/digital-collections-from-russia/siberia-and-the-russian-far-east/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

From 1848 to 1861, Count [[Nikolay Muravyov-Amursky]] was the Governor-General. He [[Amur Annexation|annexed the Amur Territory]] to Russia, however, on the spot he showed unbridled despotism and extreme cruelty. Since the opening of communication along the Amur in 1854, on the way from St. Petersburg to the Pacific Ocean, the old Yakutsk tract began to decline. The population of the city is 28,000, of them there were 3,768 exiles.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://st-yak.narod.ru/index6-7-1.html |title=160-ЛЕТИЕ ЯКУТСКО-АЯНСКОГО ТРАКТА |access-date=December 1, 2020 |archive-date=January 27, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120127204027/http://st-yak.narod.ru/index6-7-1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 1879, on July&nbsp;4 and&nbsp;6, a fire burned out of control, destroying the palace of the Governor General, and the principal administrative and municipal offices. Many of the other public buildings, including the government archives, the library, and the museum of the Siberian section of the [[Russian Geographical Society]], were completely ruined.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Irkutsk (town) |display=Irkutsk|volume=14 |page=796 |inline=1 }}</ref> Three-quarters of the city was destroyed, including approximately 4,000 houses.<ref name="Kennan">{{cite book |last1=Kennan |first1=George |title=Siberia and the Exile System |date=1891 |publisher=James R. Osgood, McIlvaine & Co. |location=London |pages=1–2 }}</ref> The city quickly rebounded, installing electricity in 1896. The first theater was built in 1897 and a major train station opened in 1898. The first train arrived in Irkutsk on August&nbsp;16 of that year. By 1900, the city had earned the nickname of "The [[Paris]] of Siberia."

[[File:Иркутск. Чешско-словацкие войска в Иркутске.jpg|thumb|Irkutsk in 1918]]
During the [[Russian Civil War]], which broke out after the [[October Revolution]], Irkutsk became the site of many furious, bloody clashes between the "[[White movement]]" and the "[[Bolsheviks]]", known as the "Reds". In 1920, [[Aleksandr Kolchak]], the once-feared commander of the largest contingent of anti-Bolshevik forces, was executed in Irkutsk. This effectively destroyed the anti-Bolshevik resistance.

Irkutsk was the administrative center of the short-lived [[East Siberian Oblast]], from 1936 to 1937. The city subsequently became the administrative center of [[Irkutsk Oblast]], after East Siberian Oblast was divided into [[Chita Oblast]] and Irkutsk Oblast.

During the communist years, the industrialization of Irkutsk and Siberia in general was strongly encouraged. The large Irkutsk Reservoir was built on the [[Angara River]] between 1950 and 1959 in order to generate hydroelectric power and facilitate industrial development.

[[File:Church of the Epiphany (Irkutsk).jpg|thumb|left|Epiphany Cathedral (built in 1718–1746)]]
The Epiphany Cathedral, the governor's palace, a school of medicine, a museum, a military hospital and the crown factories are among the public institutions and buildings.<ref name=EB1911/> The [[Aleksandr Kolchak]] monument, designed by [[Vyacheslav Klykov]], was unveiled in 2004. On July&nbsp;27, 2004, the Irkutsk Synagogue (1881) was gutted by a fire.

In December 2016, 74 people in Irkutsk [[2016 Irkutsk mass methanol poisoning|died in a mass methanol poisoning]], after drinking this toxic alcohol substitute.<ref>{{cite news |title=In Russia, Dozens Dies After Drinking Alcohol Substitute |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/world/europe/russia-bath-lotion-deaths.html |first=Ivan |last=Nechepurenko |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 19, 2016 |access-date=December 19, 2016 |archive-date=December 19, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161219211414/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/19/world/europe/russia-bath-lotion-deaths.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38395013 |title=Russia bath lotion poisoning: Putin orders crackdown as death toll rises |publisher=BBC |date=December 21, 2016 |access-date=December 21, 2016 |archive-date=November 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107081754/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-38395013 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2018, the BBC reported that men in Irkutsk had an average life span of only 63. The society had declined and their health had suffered markedly.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46617186 |title=Putin's Russia: Icy Siberia reveals cracks in society |author=Sarah Rainsford |date=December 29, 2018 |website=BBC.com |access-date=December 30, 2018 |archive-date=December 30, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181230060412/https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-46617186 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In October 2021, it was reported that armed Russian OMON (Special Purpose Mobile Unit of the Russian National Guard) officers physically assaulted and tortured two Jehovah’s Witness couples as part of a round up of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the city.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/russia/Russian-Officers-Assault-Two-Married-Couples/ |title=Russian Officers Assault Two Married Couples |date=October 10, 2021 |website=jw.org |access-date=October 10, 2021 |archive-date=October 10, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211010160819/https://www.jw.org/en/news/jw/region/russia/Russian-Officers-Assault-Two-Married-Couples/ |url-status=live }}</ref>