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Barnaul is the largest city and capital of Altai Krai in Russia, at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob rivers in the south of western Siberia, famous as the old silver-smelting capital of the Russian Empire and as a gateway to the Altai Mountains. Its top sights are Demidov Square, the Pokrovsky Cathedral, Nagorny Park and the Altai State Museum of Local Lore.
Barnaul grew up around a copper works begun for Akinfiy Demidov in 1739, and 1730 is taken as its official founding date. The Crown took over the Demidov factories in 1747, Barnaul became the centre of the empire's silver production, and it gained city status in 1771.
Barnaul had 630,877 people in the 2021 census, the 20th-largest city in Russia. Its centre was laid out on a regular plan likened to Saint Petersburg, many wooden houses burned in a great fire on 2 May 1917, and buses, trolleybuses and trams run in the city, with the airport 17 km to the west.
Altai State Museum of Local Lore is the oldest museum in Barnaul, Russia, founded in 1823 on the initiative of Friedrich Gebler and Pyotr Frolov. It fills the former mining laboratory on Polzunova Street, a mid-19th-century landmark, and Alexander von Humboldt viewed its collections in 1829.
Mining Pharmacy is a federal architectural monument on Polzunova Street in Barnaul, Russia, a one-storey brick building rebuilt in 1793 to a design by A. I. Molchanov. It once supplied medicines and instruments to the mining district's hospitals and opened as a museum after restoration in 2012.
Museum of Literature, Art and Culture of Altai is one of the largest museums in the Altai region, in Barnaul, Russia, founded on 8 September 1989. Housed in the late 19th-century former district court building, it covers the literature, music, theatre, cinema and folk art of Altai.
Barnaul Silver Smelting Plant is the historic works in Barnaul, Russia, that ran from 1744 to 1893 and gave rise to the city, begun with a dam for Akinfiy Demidov in 1739. A federal monument of 17 buildings on 7.5 hectares, it is the centrepiece of the Barnaul mining town tourist cluster.
Barnaul Pokrovsky Cathedral is the cathedral of the Altai Metropolis in Barnaul, Russia, laid down on 9 August 1898 and consecrated on 29 September 1904. Built of red brick in the Russian-Byzantine style, it has four altars and wall paintings after Nesterov, Vasnetsov and Kramskoy.
Barnaul St. Nicholas Church is one of the oldest churches in Barnaul, Russia, laid down in 1904 on Moskovsky Prospekt and consecrated in 1906. Built of red brick to Fyodor Verzhbitsky's standard design for military churches, it has a three-tier bell tower and a grand west portal.
Barnaul Znamensky Monastery is a convent in Barnaul, Russia, opened in 1994 around the Znamensky church, one of the city's oldest. A wooden church stood here from 1754 and a stone one from 1778, and the present church was laid down in 1853 and consecrated in 1859.
Demidov Square is one of the oldest squares in Barnaul, Russia, a Russian classical ensemble built in 1819 to 1852 with the mining school, mining hospital and almshouse of the silver works. A 14 m Demidov Column stands in its central garden, and the square regained its name after 1992.
Nagorny Park is a 14-hectare park on a high hill between the Barnaulka and Ob rivers in central Barnaul, Russia, at 175 m above sea level. Its height gives a wide view over the city and the Ob valley with the New Bridge, and it has fir, Siberian cedar, maple and spruce woods.
Barnaul New Bridge is a 940 m road bridge across the Ob in Barnaul, Russia, linking the Central district with the right bank of the river. Its seven spans are 32 m wide and 46 m high, and it opened on 25 July 1997 after building was revived following Boris Yeltsin's 1992 visit.
Barnaul Ribbon Pine Forest is the long band of pine woods on the left bank of the Ob that begins at Barnaul, Russia, and runs some 550 km to the south-west, 8 to 10 km wide. Named after the Barnaulka River that flows through most of it, it was once cut for charcoal for silver smelting.
Altai Drama Theatre, named after writer Vasily Shukshin, is the leading drama theatre of Barnaul, Russia, and the oldest in Altai, founded in 1921 as the first State Theatre. Its building on the main square opened on 11 February 1973 and was rebuilt in 2006 to 2007, crowned by a sculpture.
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