The only war memorial in the city of Ulan-Ude is located in the cemetery of Gor’kogo. It is a mass grave of Soviet soldiers who died of their wounds in the city’s hospitals during the Great Patriotic War. A memorial was erected in their honor. The soldiers’ remains were transferred to the memorial and buried there in a mass grave. In this way, the burial site and the memorial are connected, but remain distinct parts of the history.
The memorial has a marble base from which four white pylons rise, each inclined at a different angle. The Eternal Flame is also part of the site’s history: it was lit at the memorial on October 31, 2014. The grave, memorial, design, and dated event give the war memorial its specific historical reference points.
Further topics in the Republic of Buryatia
Beyond this memorial site, the Republic of Buryatia offers cultural and scenic topics that are clearly distinct from one another. They help ensure that the destination is not reduced to a single attraction, but also bring nature, religion, and museum collections into view.
The Barguzinsky Nature Reserve has protected the northeastern shore of Lake Baikal and its taiga slopes since 1916. Tunkinsky National Park has eight tourist routes and four ecological educational trails, including car, hiking, water, and horseback riding routes. These options differ in their means of transport. The number of routes and their availability may change; check the current details with the park.
A different perspective is offered by the Ivolginsky Datsan (Khambyn Sume), a large Buddhist monastery complex in the village of Verkhnyaya Ivolga. It is described as a center of Russian Buddhism. The body of Pandito Khambo Lama XII Dashi-Dorzho Itigelov, described as imperishable, is kept there. This places a religious and monastic context alongside the historical remembrance of the soldiers in Gorkogo.
The Museum of the Peoples of Transbaikalia in Ulan-Ude includes residential and settlement complexes of the pre-Baikal and Transbaikal Buryats, Evenks, Soyots, Old Believers, and Russian old-settlers. Visitors can try national sports and take part in animated guided tours. The museum thus offers insight into a variety of communities, while the Ivolginsky Datsan focuses on Buddhist monastic culture.
The Museum of Nature of Buryatia in Ulan-Ude also combines different approaches: it displays more than 2,000 exhibits in five halls and has the digital planetarium “Zvezdnyy dom Buryatii.” It was the first institution in Buryatia with its own digital planetarium. The guided tour “Puteshestvie po Buryatii” through the halls is offered year-round in Russian and Buryat. The year-round live nature exhibition “V gostyakh u Eroshki” is aimed at children and teaches them about exotic birds, fish, amphibians, and reptiles, as well as mammals from Europe, Asia, America, and Africa. If you include these offerings in your plans, confirm the current visiting conditions before your trip.
Discover more travel destinations: Istok, Goryachinsk, Kurumkan, Turka, Poselye, Kyakhta, Nizhneangarsk, Ust-Barguzin.
For the overarching travel overview: Republic of Buryatia.
