Audio tour Slyudyanka

Ivan Pokhabov founded the very first settlement in the territory of modern Slyudyanka in the middle of the 17th century. A Cossack squad under his guidance built a small ostrog on the shore of Baikal between two rivers. One of these rivers, by the way, was later named after Pokhabov, its name became Pokhabinka. The second river was named Slyudyanka because the pioneers found mica deposits here. Mica means Slyuda in Russian. However, the new settlement did not function for a very long time despite the found mineral resources. 

Eric Laksman, a traveler, found deposits of jade, lapis lazuli, and again mica deposits at the beginning of the 19th century near Slyudyanka. To extract this mineral, Slyudyanka winter hut was founded here at the beginning of the 19th century. Subsoils of the southern Prybaikalye are very rich in minerals, Slyudyanka is even called heaven for the geologists. You can see more than 200 kinds of minerals in local museums that geologists found on the outskirts of Slyudyanka.   

A wheeled tract (Circum Baikal) was built through Slyudyanka in the middle of the 19th century. It connected Russia and China. The main development of the territory was in the 19-20th centuries when the Circum Baikal railroad was built. It is mostly by chance that Slyudyanka was selected for building a railroad station, builders could have chosen any other nearest village. People say that M. I. Khilkov who was the then minister of railways wanted to choose Slyudyanka. He also decided to build a marble railroad station here that is now the pride of the locals. 

Many people were needed to serve the needs of the railroad. The village population grew tremendously. Living quarters and infrastructure facilities were constructed.

When the Soviets came to power in 1920, railroad transportation, mining operations (of mica, marble, granite, and others), navigation on Baikal, and fishing were the main sources of income for the locals. 

In 1925 the village of Slyudyanka got the status of the industrial community, since 1936 Slyudyanka has been a town.

Nowadays Slyudyanka is a major railway junction. However, mining and fishing are practically over. Tourism has been developing. Rich flora and fauna, variety of terrain, the richness of mineral resources attract tourists, mountaineers, cavers, and geologists.