5.20 Answer the following questions:

1 When was Tyumen founded? How old is it now?

2 Where is Tyumen situated?

3 Why was this place chosen by voivodes Sukin and Myasnoy?

4 When did Tyumen become the capital of the Region?

5 Why did Tyumen begin to develop?

6 What is the historic centre of the city?

7 What higher educational establishments do you know in Tyumen?

8 Can you name all famous places of interest in Tyumen?

9 What is the population of Tyumen?

10 Are you proud of your city? Why?

5.21 Guess what place of Tyumen is described.

1 It is located on a very convenient and important for the city place. The broad, flat cape between the two rivers and the Tura bank was a kind of a plot of the town. It stands solidly, firmly fixing its high walls and monumental erections.

2 The old Siberian high road entered the town along the south outskirts of the Coachmen’s settlement. Nowadays it is …….. Street. Reaching the bank of the Tura the street abruptly turns to the right, to the centre of Tyumen and two hundred metres to the left the Trinity monastery suddenly emerges.

3 It’s a very beautiful building nearly in the centre of the town. There is higher educational institution in this building. In front of the building you can see a monument. Near this place there is a square with one more monument to the heroes of the Great October revolution and the Civil War.

4 This building is regarded as a gem of Tyumen wooden architecture. It makes up a single ensemble combining Baroque and Classical elements with distinctive local three-dimensional carving. In 1996 this edifice became the home of an unusual museum – its exhibition introduces visitors to major turning points in the history of Russia, to dramatic human destinies and memorable events. The old mansion originally belonged to the Ikonnikov merchant family (1804).

In the late 1880s the building was purchased by the Tyumen first-guild merchant Ivan Kolokolnikov, who radically altered it from a wooden sixwalled house into a miniature palace with suites of rooms and fireplaces-stoves and rich carved and moulded décor.

5 It is one of the oldest buildings in Siberia. It’s a museum named after Ivan Slovtsov. Its creation was connected with an increase in scientific and educational demands of society and the growing role played by the Siberian land in economical, cultural and political life of Russia in the second half of the nineteenth century. Ivan Slovtsov was a passionate collector. His collections of Siberian antiquities made up the basis of this museum.

6 The Museun of Geology, Oil and Gas is situated in the architectural complex of …….. . The exhibition of the museum is devoted to the history of exploration and industrial development of major deposits in Western Siberia, as well as to the main problems of the unique fuel and energy complex of the country.

22. Read the texts about Tyumen Museums and express your opinion about the tourist potential of Tyumen.

The most interesting museums expositions are offered to the tourists. Tyumen Regional Local Lore Museum and its numerous branches, the Museum of Fine arts, a few of small museums and showrooms open their doors to the public every day. Among them there is a Museum of Kasli Artistic Casting and a Railway Museum.