Vladivostok
logo_vlad.gif (10954 bytes)
Founded: 1860

Population: 700,000  Ethnic Groups:Russian, Korean, Chinese.
Industry: Shipping, Commercial Fishing, Home Port of Russian Pacific Fleet

Location

Climate

Longitude Latitude Altitude Time Zone Temperature Precipitation
131° 54' E 43° 08' N Sea Level
GMT +10 hours
Moscow +7 hours
January -13° C
July +23° C
100cm
Local girl
Nanai girl.JPG (19661 bytes)

Museum
of Wooden Architecture
night.gif (7523 bytes)

Dolphin Show at
the Aquarium
dolf.gif (6740 bytes)

Museums

Vladivostok ("Lord of the East" in Russian) is located less than 100 km east the Chinese border, and just across the Sea of Japan from the main Japanese island of Honshu. Home base of the Russian Pacific Fleet, the city was closed to all non-Soviets from 1958 until 1991.

Between its founding in 1860 and closing to foreigners in 1958, Vladivostok was a fairly international city. In the early part of the 20th century, Russians were actually outnumbered by Chinese in Vladivostok, and during the years following the Revolution, there were large Japanese and US populations. The US maintained a consulate in Vladivostok until 1948.

Vladivostok became Russia's main naval base in the East after Port Arthur (located in Chinese territory and ceded to Russia in 1898) fell in January 1905, during the Russian-Japanese war. Modern Vladivostok has been compared to the American West during the Gold Rush years. Businesses from all over the world have flooded in to take advantage of the city's position as a crossroads of Northeast Asia.

Hotel "Hyundai"
in the downtown
hyund.gif (8144 bytes)

 

Hotels :

ACFES-SEIYO***

GAVAN

HYUNDAI

VERSAILLES

 

 

ACFES-SEIYO***

Japanese strict business style. Employees working directly with clients have knowledge of English.Facilities: business center, negotiation room, fax, Xerox, restaurant, bar (offers only drinks), shop, parking, fitness center, medical office, depository, service bureau.

GAVAN

Managers, maids, and employees of the business center have the knowledge of English. Facilities: business center, negotiation room, fax, Xerox, computer, restaurant, bar, buffet, parking, shop, swimming-pool, sauna, fitness center, medical office, depository, laundry, video rental, consulate service. Autonomous heat and water supply systems.

HYUNDAI

International Standard: ****
Facilities: swimming pool, sauna, fitness center, restaurants.

VERSAILLES

Facilities: 42 suits, restaurant, bar, breakfast buffet, car rental, business center, souvenir shop, casino.

 

Museums

Vladimir Arsenyev Primorsky State Joint Museum is situated at #20 Svetlanskaya St., tel: 22-73-13, 22-85-82, fax: 22-78-96. The museum was opened in 1890. The museum's subjects are nature and history of Primorye, ethnography, archaeology (there is a burial complex of the Jurchengs period) and natural - scientific material, such as stuffed animals, herbariums, and mineral samples. One of the most exotic exhibits is a rocket gun katyusha of World War II. There is also a rich numismatic artistic collection. The museum's archives are estimated at over 200,000 exhibits. The area of the exhibition halls totals 230 sq. meters (2,474 sq. feet). Working hours are from 10:30 to 17:30. The museum can organize excursions, exhibitions, presentations, and parties. A literature-artistic salon Klio, a collector's store Hobby and a souvenir booth are attached to the museum.

The Sukhanovs' Memorial House, affiliated with the Arsenyev Museum, is located at #9 Sukhanova St., tel: 22-88-54. It was opened in 1977. The interior of a functionary's house at the beginning of the 20th century has been preserved in the museum. Working hours are 10:30 - 19:30. Closed on Mondays. The cost of a visit is the same as at the Arsenyev Museum. The staff can arrange excursions, concerts and meetings with men of art. Exhibitions are organized free of charge. A music salon Classic-Underground, literature-poetic salon, and Buddha Culture Center are attached to the museum. Those who are interested in the ancient world's religion of Buddhism will be pleased to know that there is a statue of Buddha in Vladivostok. It was erected at the entrance of the Primorsky peace Defense Committee at #90 Okeansky Prospekt.

Amur Ethnic Art Museum is situated at #50, 25 Nerchinskaya, contact tel: 22-98-18. It was opened in March 1992 with the purpose of popularizing the culture of the far Eastern ethnic groups. The archives total 500 exhibits. Working hours are from 9:00 to 22:00 on Saturdays and Sundays. Excursions and exhibitions can be arranged.

Museum of the Pacific Fleet was opened in 1950 at #14 Pushkinskaya St., tel: 22-51-70, 22-80-35. Among the most interesting exhibits are the ship models of the sailing and steam fleets, the weapons of the period of Far East exploration by Russian (17th - 19th centuries) and personal belongings of the commander of the cruiser Varyag, V.F. Rudnev. The archives are estimated at over 38,000 exhibits. Working hours are 10:00-17:30 on Wednesday through Sunday.

Primorsky Nature Museum was opened in December 1995 at #6 Petra Velikogo St., tel: 22-50-77. There are halls of geology and a collection of stones and articles made of them in the museum. It houses an exhibition of Roerich's paintings, Primorye's artists-modernists works and also a fish aquarium, live songbirds and flowers. Working hours are 10:00 - 18:00.

Museum of the Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnography of the Far Eastern Peoples is located at #50, 89, Pushkinskaya St., Vladivostok, tel: 22-82-00, fax: 26-82-11. The Museum houses a rich collection of exhibits on the theme "Medieval History of Priamurye and Primorye (VII-XIII centuries A.D.)". Among the exhibits gained as a result of archaeological excavations are the articles of household and decoration-applied purposes. Working hours are 9:00 - 17:00 Monday through Friday. Booking by phone or fax is necessary before a visit.

Oceanarium of TINRO-Center and Dolphinarium is situated at #4 Batareynaya St., tel: 25-59-65, fax: 25-77-83, telex: 213137 MRH RU. It was opened in July 1991. The Japanese firm Nitiro Corporation delivered and mounted the technical equipment. There are two main sections in the Oceanarium: museum exhibits, including the inhabitants of the Far East's seas and coasts. There is a cranium of the famous Stellerovaya cow that became extinct in the 18th century, a stuffed ancient cluster-finned fish, Latimeria, and a collection of shells. There is also a live exposition of 86 species and over 1,800 samples in the aquariums, representing a variety of inhabitants found in the Gulf of Peter the Great and other water reservoirs of Primorye.The Dolphinarium is a floating fish-well, established in Sportivnaya Gavan. Fur-seals (Mikki and Kruz) and white whales (Akhan, Dora, and Lada) are kept there. Working hours are 10:00 - 19:00, at 12:30, 15:00, and 17:30 there is a live game performance. Closed on Mondays. Excursions can be arranged. The total area of the expositions is 1,080 sq. meters (11,619 sq. feet).

Primorsky Picture Gallery is located at #12 Aleutskaya St., tel: 22-72-95, fax: 22-58-41. It was opened in 1966. Pictures by Russian artists of the 18th-20th centuries, western-European artists, and artists from Primorye are displayed in the Gallery. There are ancient Russian icons and works by renowned Russian artists of the 19yj-20th centuries, such as K. Bryullov, I. Levitan, I. Shishkin, I. Ayvazovsky, I. Repin, V. Kandinsky, and M. Shagal. The archives are estimated at over 5,000 units of storage. Working hours are 10:00 - 18:30, closed on Mondays. An artistic salon and a book store are attached to the Gallery.

Province Children's Picture Gallery was opened in June 1991 at #12 Partizansky Prospekt., tel/fax: 25-98-48. Children's works from all over the world are displayed at the Gallery. The archives contain over 5,000 works. Working hours are 9:00 - 18:00.

The Submarine Museum is located inside a World War II C-56 submarine, at Korabelnaya Naberezhnaya, tel: 21-67-57. Working hours are 9:00-18:00, closed Sunday to Tuesday.

The Krasny Vympel Ship Museum is located at Korabelnaya Naberezhnaya. It is the first ship commissioned into the Soviet Pacific Fleet, open 9:30-17:45, closed on Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays.

Border Guard Museum is at #17 Semenovskaya Street, tel: 21-80-74, open 9:00-17:00, closed on Sundays and Mondays.


The Sikhote-Alin Preserve is the most beautiful preserve in the Far East. The Sikhote-Alin mountains are covered with ancient cedar-and-broad-leafed and fizz-spruce forests. Cloudberry opens in mid-summer. The Primorye fauna includes common and Ussurian mammoths, the latter, a small poisonous snake, is a more frequently occurring species in the preserve. The tiger was always considered the king of the jungle. Today in the Primorye forests
tigers are not numerous and need special protection, although man never feels quite safe when he meets this royal cat in the forest. Knowledgeable people say that tigers show no fear or aggressiveness towards a man. They usually hunt sika deer, wild boars and Manchurian deer, sometimes they even attack bears.