For long time, Shushenskoe was the place of Russian political exile, first of so called Decembrists (participants in the unsuccessful revolt against Tsar Nicholas I in December 1825), then of Polish insurgents from the rebellion of 1860 and finally of revolutionaries of the late 1890s. The most prominent personality among the exiled was Vladimir Ilych Lenin known as the main leader of the October Revolution of 1917. While in exile in Shushenskoe (1897 - 1900), he got married with Nadezhda Krupskaya there in 1898.
In 1970, a museum was open to commemorate Lenin’s exile, i.e. his life in Shushenskoe, bringing fame to the village, both in Russia and abroad. After the Soviet period, the museum was transformed into an ethnographic institution - a unique open-air museum preserving a traditional Siberian village and pre-revolutionary Russian culture of the late 19th century in its entirety. Alongside the house of Lenin’s exile, the museum contains many other well-preserved rural buildings with plenty more historical artifacts on display. The museum also facilitates its own souvenir production that allows visitors observing how individual souvenirs are produced by skilled craftsmen. Visitors can even try to make their own souvenirs at the museum and take part in special lessons offered to learn such traditional crafts as pottery, wood carving, weaving, etc.
Nowadays, Shushenskoe is a place of revived folk traditions and Siberian hospitality. The first weekend of July, during the international ethno-music festival ‘Sayan Ring’, Shushenskoe reverberates with traditional music featuring singers and other performers from the entire Siberia and abroad. This for Siberia unique event provides an opportunity to hear the famous Tuvan throat-singing, to see Shamans and their rituals, or to try playing a traditional folk music instrument oneself. Other great festivities include New Year’s Day and Maslenica (similar to Shrovetide and Pancake Day celebrated before the Lent in Europe), both replete with many popular events and fairs. During the Maslenica celebrations, traditional procession in the village streets with burning of Maslenica effigy (symbolizing the end of harsh winter) is organized.
For those wishing to experience a cozy atmosphere in a Siberian izba (peasant's house), savouring traditional Siberian tea (made from mountain herbs) or trying delicious bird cherry pie, Shushenskoe is the right place. Furthermore, there are a number of restaurants and accommodation facilities in the village and its surrounding. The village has also its own vodka distillery. The trip from Shushenskoe to Cheremushky (entry point to the mountain segment of Shushensky Bor National Park and Sayno-Shushensky Zapovednik) is in itself a scenic drive, with many interesting sites and places to see.
Great Sayan Fortress
A silent witness of the boisterous local history is a large meadow near a quaint village of Sayansk where once Great Sayan Fortress stood. The giant wooden fortification was built there in 1718 by Siberian Cossacks on request by Peter I who wished to consolidate and protect the expanding Russian territory in Siberia. The wooden structure has not survived, only earthditches and ramparts of where the fortress stood can be seen. However, there are plans by local enthusiasts to restore the fort as a tourist attraction in the future. A small museum devoted to Siberian Cossacks is housed in one of the typical Siberian wooden cottages in Sayansk. A small-scale model of the Great Sayan Fortress is on display in the visitor centre of Shushensky Bor National Park in Shushenskoe.
Sizaya Village
Sizaya is apicturesque Siberian village surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery of the Yenisey canyon. The first thing to catch the eye is a white-marble church standing on a hill in the middle of the village. This is the Russian Orthodox Church of St. Evdokia, which has completely renovated thanks to a generous donation of Ivan Yarygin - the double Olympic champion and the holder of several world records in free style wrestling. At the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972 Ivan was able to knock out all his rivals in a record time - 7 minutes and 20 seconds, having received his nickname ‘Siberian Hercules’. Ivan spent his childhood in Sizaya. There is an interesting museum devoted to his sport career and life in the village. There is a smaller dam on the Yenisey (Maynska GEZ) to see.
Sayano-Shushensky dam and Cheremushky
Sayano-Shushensky Dam, one of the largest in the world, was constructed to generate electricity necessary for an aluminum processing plant in Sayanogorsk in nearby Khakassia. The amount of concrete used to build the wall of the dam equals a road which would go three times around the Earth. The water reservoir created by the dam is almost 300 km long and on average 100 m deep. Sadly, the water flooded a spectacular canyon of the Yenisey, but helped to establish a new navigable route across the West Sayans to Tuva.
The village Cheremushky together with the access road from Mayna near Sizaya were both built in the 1960s to cater for the construction of the dam. Many former construction workers still live in the uniform blocks of flats neatly integrated in the forest. There is a viewing platform to see the dam (spectacularly illuminated in the night) and a museum of the Sayano-Shushensky hydropower station (Museum GEZ in Russian). There are several accommodation facilities in and around the village, including a comfortable hotel. On the opposite (right) bank of Yenisey near Cheremushky, Shushensky Bor National Park Authority has built two comfortable self-catering cottages for park’s visitors. They are nestled in a beautiful forest on the shore of a pond with trout hatchery. The resort has also a Russian banya and barbecue facilities.
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