What attractions can a tourist see in Perm?

Perm, founded in 1781, quickly became a major logistics, industrial, commercial and cultural center of the Urals, turning into a city by the end of the 18th century. to the provincial capital. In this resource-rich region, salt has long been mined, copper smelted, and cannons cast for the Russian army. It was here that the first Ural university was opened. Perm today is a metropolis of millions with a developed economy and excellent tourism infrastructure, capable of delighting travelers with interesting places, architectural and monumental wonders.

TOP-5 sights of Perm

Among the abundance of monuments, historical and architectural attractions of Perm, it is worth highlighting several iconic objects. Acquaintance with the city usually begins with their inspection.

Monument to the heroes of the front and rear

• Address: city esplanade. Transport stop "Popova Street".

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the great Victory of the Soviet people in the Second World War, a majestic monument was inaugurated on the esplanade in the Leninsky district of Perm. A sculptural composition cast in bronze rises on a pedestal lined with polished granite. In its center is a figure of the Motherland, receiving a shield from the hands of a worker and handing over a sword to a warrior. The monument symbolizes the unprecedented unity of the front and rear, which allowed the people of a multinational country to break the back of fascism.

Rotunda

• Address: park named after. M. Gorky. Transport stop "Art Gallery".

Royalty rarely spoiled Perm with visits. Each such visit became a landmark event in the life of the city. Therefore, preparations were made thoroughly for the arrival of Emperor Alexander I in 1824. Then an elegant gazebo appeared in the city garden, the dome of which is supported by 12 slender columns. There was no time left to build a stone structure, so it was built from wood and painted white. It is unknown whether the autocrat found out about this or not, but he approved the rotunda, and the townspeople immediately fell in love with the new landmark.

Tower of Death

• Address: st. Belinsky, 46. Transport stop "Komsomolskaya Square".

The exterior of the building, which has become one of the main symbols of Perm, reflects the best features inherent in Soviet architectural classicism. It looks impressive and majestic, occupying an entire block. A massive tower topped with a spire cutting 47 meters into the sky, arched entrances reminiscent of a fortress gate, make the mansion very similar to a knight’s castle. The building received its unofficial name due to the fact that the NKVD structures were located in it for many years. There are several dark urban legends associated with this. One of them says that the bodies of its builders are walled up in the walls of the structure.

Monument “Permyak – salty ears”

• Address: Komsomolsky Prospekt, 27. Transport stop "TSUM".

The small sculpture is a kind of visiting card of Perm, which has long been considered the capital of Russian salt production. By the middle of the 19th century. The residents of the city have a nickname that comes from the specifics of the traditional craft. Its appearance is associated with the fact that the ears of workers who carried bags of salt on their shoulders became saturated with tiny particles of the mineral. The original bronze sculpture, often called the most non-trivial monument in Russia, is loved by citizens and tourists coming to Perm. The photos against the background of the monument look very original.

TV tower

• Address: st. Krupskaya, 61A. Transport stop "Ulitsa Krupskaya".

The Ural city can be considered unique, if only because five television towers were erected on its territory at different times. The last of them, commissioned a year ago, has become an iconic landmark of modern Perm. Indeed, in terms of height, 275 m, the local TV tower is second only to similar structures in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the evenings, the openwork metal structure, illuminated by multi-colored lights, looks especially impressive.

Belogorsky Monastery

The Belogorsky Monastery was founded at the end of the 19th century. The main monastery Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Cross was built from 1902 to 1917, becoming the greatest in the Perm Diocese. After serving for a year, the temple was closed by the new authorities and the monks were killed. Since the 30s of the last century, political prisoners stayed in its premises, and later the disabled lived. At the end of the last century, the monastery was returned to the diocese. After restoration, the snow-white Holy Cross Cathedral rises on White Mountain in all its grandeur and solemnity. The seven-domed temple, being the seventh largest in Russia, seems to float in the sky.

Historical and architectural monuments

The sights of Perm, photos and descriptions of which are presented in this section, are just part of what the city will delight its guests with. Tourists interested in history, architecture, and sculptural delights will find a lot of interesting things on its streets and squares.

Gribushin House

• Address: st. Lenina, 13A. Transport stop "M. Gorky Street".

Perhaps the most elegant building in Perm was erected in 1897 for the famous industrialist and philanthropist S.M. Gribuschina. The eclectic mansion with its colorful façade decoration has been an architectural gem of the city ever since. Its exterior, eye-catching with its combination of white and blue colors, reveals architectural features inherent in Baroque, Art Nouveau, and Classicism. There are Corinthian half-columns, openwork stucco molding, and elegant arched windows. Today, within the walls of the building there is a cultural center, where classical music concerts are often held and poetry readings are held.

Monument to Nicholas the Wonderworker

• Address: st. Monastyrskaya. Transport stop "Art Gallery".

Famous sculptor V.M. Klykov, who headed the International Foundation for Slavic Literature and Culture, sculpted the statue of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker back in 2005, however, for a long time he could not decide on the place where it would be installed. Shortly before his death, he bequeathed his creation to Perm. In June 2008, the monument was inaugurated after a special holiday prayer service. Today it has become not only a place of pilgrimage for believers, but also a significant landmark of the city.

Perm I station

• Address: st. Monastyrskaya, 5. Transport stop “Station Perm I”.

The Perm I station building, included in the register of architectural monuments of regional significance, was the starting point of the Ural Railway, which connected in the second third of the 19th century. city ​​with Yekaterinburg. The exterior of the building is eclectic. The architecture of the building is dominated by the pseudo-Russian style, as evidenced by the kokoshniks of the tent-roofed towers topped with high spiers. The station looks elegant, delighting Perm residents and city guests with its elegance and luxurious façade decor.

Perm Gate

• Address: Square of the 250th anniversary of Perm. Transport stop "Lokomotivnaya Street".

Perhaps the most controversial city monument was unveiled on Kommunisticheskaya Street in 2001. A colorful installation in the shape of the letter “P”, rising 12 meters above the ground, consists of logs randomly placed on supports. It took 5,200 of them to make the original arch. Opinions are divided regarding the artistic value of such an unusual object. Some consider it an example of bad taste, while others, on the contrary, classify the monument as a work of art. However, literally everyone takes pictures against the backdrop of the landmark.

Eiffel Tower

• Address: st. Ryazanskaya, 19. Transport stop "Aviagorodok".

Residents of the Ural metropolis do not necessarily have to go to Paris to admire the famous Eiffel Tower. Its copy, although reduced by almost 30 times, since 2009 has become one of the colorful sights of Perm acquired in modern times. The eleven-meter tower, which is illuminated by multi-colored spotlights in the evenings, has already become a must-visit place for wedding processions. Newlyweds, as well as guests of the city, love to be photographed against its background.

Monument to the heroes of L. Gaidai's films

• Address: Komsomolsky Prospekt, 53. Transport stop "Crystal Cinema".

Cinema "Crystal" is considered the most popular in the city. But it’s worth visiting here not only to watch a blockbuster and melodrama. In front of the building you can take a photo among the colorful trinity of heroes from L. Gaidai’s immortal comedies. Bronze figures of Experienced, Coward and Dunce appeared in Perm in 2010. Since then, the composition, perpetuating the image of the wonderful Soviet actors Yu. Nikulin, G. Vitsin, E. Morgunov, has become one of the city’s popular attractions.

Gribushin House

Lenin Street is famous for the most luxurious mansion in Perm - the Gribushin House, listed as an architectural monument of the 19th century. It is believed that the hero of Boris Pasternak’s novel “Doctor Zhivago” stayed in this “house with figures”. The building stands out for its pronounced Art Nouveau style and is decorated with amazing stucco decoration created by a Perm amateur artist. The owner of the house until 1919 was the merchant S.M. Gribushin, who turned it into an elite salon where the creative intelligentsia met. Today the building is given over to the scientific center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, but chamber music concerts are held monthly in the living room.

Cultural leisure in Perm

When deciding where to go in Perm to have fun and useful leisure time, a tourist will have to make a difficult choice. The city has several very interesting museums, and in the evenings magnificent theaters invite you to their performances.

Museum of Local Lore

• Opening hours: daily, except Monday, from 10:00 to 19:00, on Thursday from 12:00 to 21:00.
• Ticket price: adult 120 rubles, reduced price 60 rubles, children under 16 years old are admitted free.
• Telephone.
• Website: https://www.museum.perm.ru
• Address: st. Monastyrskaya, 11. Transport stop “Skver im. Reshetnikov."

The exhibitions of the museum, founded in 1894, are located in a unique historical building built at the end of the 19th century, known as the Meshkov mansion. The rich collection of the institution includes tens of thousands of exhibits telling about the history, nature of the amazing Perm region, life, and the original culture of the peoples who have long inhabited these lands. The collections of the museum, which has 11 branches, contain many priceless artifacts obtained during archaeological and ethnographic expeditions. In addition to viewing the main exhibition, tourists will be offered to visit a variety of thematic exhibitions.

Art Gallery

• Opening hours: daily, except Monday, from 10:00 to 19:00, Tuesday and Thursday from 12:00 to 21:00.
• Ticket price: adult 120 rubles, children 80 rubles.
• Telephone.
• Website: https://www.permartmuseum.ru
• Address: Komsomolsky Prospekt, 4. Transport stop "Art Gallery" or "TSUM".

Since its founding in 1902, the city art gallery has gone from a modest institution with a small collection of paintings to one of the cultural pearls of the entire Kama region. During the war, it was within its walls that the collection of the Russian Museum was kept, part of which remained in Perm. Today, the gallery's storerooms contain more than 50 thousand works by painters, sculptors, and masters of applied art from different eras - from antiquity to modern times. Most of them are on display in the permanent exhibition. The gallery is located in the unique historical building of the Transfiguration Church.

Perm Opera

• Opening hours: performances are given from Tuesday to Sunday inclusive. Performances start at 16:00 on weekends, at 19:00 on weekdays.
• Ticket price: from 200 rub. up to 1200 rub.
• Telephone.
• Website: https://www.permopera.ru
• Address: st. Petropavlovskaya, 25A. Transport stop "Opera and Ballet Theater" or "Main Post Office".

The city Opera, founded in 1870, invites fans of Melpomene to spend a wonderful evening watching a vibrant performance. Reputable critics include it in the TOP 10 of the best provincial theaters in Russia, and the ballet troupe is generally among the top five in the country. The modern generation of artists and directors has more than once received prizes from reputable festivals. There are 10 “Golden Masks” alone in the theater’s collection. Performances are staged against the backdrop of colorful scenery, and the auditorium has excellent acoustics.

Art gallery building

The art gallery stands out on Cathedral Square with its divine beauty. Since 1932, it has been located in the former Transfiguration Cathedral, a monument of religious architecture of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The ensemble of the former cathedral appears in the form of a five-altar church with a three-tier bell tower, connected by a gallery to the former bishop's house, which now houses a branch of the local history museum. The facade of the gallery, added to the bell tower in Soviet times, is decorated in the style of classicism with columns and a triangular pediment. The roof of the bell tower is completed with a small spire. In the museum it is interesting to see a unique collection of ancient wooden sculpture from the region and a large collection of icons from masters of the Stroganov school. It also houses more than 50 thousand paintings by Russian and Western European painters.

Perm temples

Connoisseurs of religious architecture will have something to see in Perm. Churches and mosques, built in different periods, are maintained in excellent condition. During city tours, travelers will be able to admire Christian and Muslim temples.

Holy Trinity Monastery

• Opening hours: daily, from 8:00 to 20:00.
• Phone: +7 342 267‑51-00.
• Website: https://www.permstefan.ru
• Address: st. Visimskaya, 4A. Transport stop "Ploshchad Vosstaniya".

At the end of the 18th century. workers at a copper smelter raised funds to build a small wooden temple in Motovilikha. The authorities gave the necessary permissions and already in 1790 a church was consecrated here, around which a monastery was formed. Over time, the buildings began to deteriorate. Then it was decided to erect stone buildings in their place. The new building, already in the status of a cathedral, was consecrated in 1836. The five-domed temple with an elegant bell tower and an eclectic exterior, in which the influence of Byzantine and Old Russian styles is felt, turned out to be surprisingly elegant. With the advent of Soviet power, the monastery buildings were transferred to the bakery; they were returned to the church only in 1994. During restoration work, all the buildings and the temple building were restored. The main shrine of the monastery is considered to be the miraculous image of the “Inexhaustible Chalice”, to which thousands of believers strive to venerate.

Cathedral Mosque

• Opening hours: daily, from 9:00 to 21:00.
• Telephone.
• Address: st. Osinskaya, 5. Transport stop “Ulitsa Okulova”.

The oldest Islamic temple, built with the money of Muslim merchants, opened its doors to believers back in 1903. In addition to its historical value, the building is very interesting for its architectural features. In its exterior, the traditions of Russian church and oriental religious architecture are surprisingly harmoniously intertwined. Thus, the minaret of the mosque is very similar in appearance to a bell tower. The design of the façade uses decorative elements inherent in two seemingly antagonistic styles. The windows of the temple are decorated with multi-colored stained glass windows, but its interiors are modest and very ascetic.

Peter and Paul Cathedral

• Opening hours: daily, from 8:00 to 18:30.
• Telephone.
• Website: https://www.soborpetraipavla.ru
• Address: st. Sovetskaya, 1/1. Transport stop "M. Gorky Street".

The Baroque-style cathedral is considered one of the oldest stone buildings in Perm. It took seven years to build and was consecrated in 1764. Interestingly, the first rector of the temple was appointed personally by Empress Catherine II. In 1929, the church property was requisitioned, and the building was transferred to the management of the city's public services. At various times it housed a club, a gym, and restoration workshops. The cathedral was returned to the church in 1990. After restoration work, services are again held under its arches.

Cathedral Mosque

The construction of the Perm Cathedral Mosque is a monument of urban planning of local importance. The Jami Mosque clearly stands out in the urban space with its external eclectic beauty, in which the oriental architectural style and Russian folk architecture merge in harmony. The domed hall of the mosque is connected to a rectangular minaret above the entrance, reminiscent of a Russian bell tower. The design of the facades is replete with many carved details, like those of Orthodox churches. Only the interior of the mosque is strictly consistent with Muslim traditions. Today the mosque is the site of all Muslim celebrations.

Where to go with children in Perm

If you are planning to visit Perm, be sure to take your children on the trip. The city has prepared a wonderful entertainment program for young travelers. A visit here will be interesting for a child of any age.

Separate article: Where to go in Perm with children

Perm Zoo

• Opening hours: daily, from 9:00 to 18:00 in winter, from 9:00 to 21:00 in summer.
• Ticket price: adult 200 rub., child 100 rub.
• Telephone.
• Website: https://www.zoo.perm.ru
• Address: st. Monastyrskaya, 10. Transport stop “Art Gallery”.

Since its opening in 1933, the city zoo has been considered one of the most visited cultural and entertainment institutions in Perm. The spacious enclosures on its territory, covering an area of ​​more than 2 hectares, contain almost 2,800 fauna representatives. Excellent conditions have been created for the animals, so they not only feel great here, but also reproduce successfully. In particular, pairs of snow leopards, Amur tigers, and Caucasian leopards regularly give birth. Contact recreation is very popular among children, where young visitors can play with safe animals.

Extreme Park

• Working hours: daily.
• Ticket price: admission is free.
• Address: st. Ekaterininskaya, 225A. Transport stop "Khokhryakova" or "Ekaterininskaya Street".

If you come to the city with a teenager, be sure to bring him to this wonderful place. There are no analogues to it in Russia yet. There are excellent conditions for skateboarding and rollerblading, freestyle, parkour, and other sports popular among young people. It's easy to hone your skills on multiple ramps, a variety of faces or pyramids. Confident professionals will be able to demonstrate an amazing trick on the planes of the 11-meter “California Pipe”. By the way, don’t forget to take a souvenir photo of the incredibly colorful sculptures “Perm Period” and “Tron”.

Museum of Motovilikha Plants

• Opening hours: on weekdays from 9:00 to 16:00, on weekends from 11:30 to 15:00.
• Ticket price: admission to the museum is free.
• Telephone.
• Website: https://www.mz.perm.ru
• Address: st. 1905, 20. Transport stop “Street 1905”.

An excursion to this institution will undoubtedly delight any boy and allow parents to learn a lot of interesting things. The museum exhibition is divided into two parts. In several halls, visitors will be able to get acquainted with the history of the famous “Motovilikha” from its foundation to the present day. In one of the halls, the surroundings of a copper mine from the 18th century are reconstructed. Guests will be able to see the conditions in which workers worked at the production facility founded by V.N. Tatishchev. The most interesting exhibits are exhibited in the open air. At several sites, military equipment that the company produced at different times is demonstrated - from the local Tsar Cannon, cast in 1868, to the Grad rocket systems.

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Anyone who wants to get acquainted with the original culture of the peoples of the Urals and enjoy the charm of the local nature should come to this wonderful city. The most pleasant memories and many stunning photographs will remain about the days spent in Perm.