Tomsk, one of the oldest Siberian town, was founded in 1604 on the high right bank of the Tom river. Tomsk is the city that is different from any other cities all the world with its beauty and uniqueness. Wooden architecture of Tomsk is a magnificent heritage of art. The beautiful houses, dressed in carved lace, the oldest wooden architecture now becomes a great sightseeing and gives individuality to its image. Houses decorated with wooden lace, gold-plated church domes, the beauty of the streets creates for Tomsk the name of a historical center of Siberia. The legacy is a cosmopolitan city that embraces diverse cultures.

However, despite its venerable age, Tomsk appears youthful thanks to the students and young scientists. Tomsk is a fascinating mix of the historical and the modern style where the ornate architecture sits happily alongside contemporary metallic and glass structures. Its semi-industrial and trading past has been preserved with many of the warehouses, trading halls, factories and civic buildings having been renovated and rejuvenated as luxury hotels, museums, businesses and even domestic dwellings. Modern Tomsk is a large, generally acknowledged Russian educational and research center.

Nowadays, there are 10 academic institutes and six higher educational universities in Tomsk. The oldest Tomsk State University has brought the glory to the town. The well-known Tomsk State University Library is a basis for Siberian scientists and engineers. More than three and half million book copies written on many foreign languages and concerning very different subjects are in it's book repositories. Siberian Botanical Garden at the Tomsk State University, as one of the largest and richest garden in the world, is a scientific establishment which role and significance are constantly increased.

The Tomsk experts have made a valuable contribution in the advancement of electronics, precision mechanical engineering and metal working, up-to-date building industries, and automation production.

It is well known that Tomsk Universities, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and other Academies, Research Institutes and Design Organizations have essential services to science and technology progress in Siberia and Russian Far East region. Educational, scientific and engineering potential of Tomsk served as a basis for the foundation of more than 20 engineering institutions, academic and scientific research institutes in Krasnoyarsk, Omsk, Kemerovo, Irkutsk, and other Siberian towns.

The Tomsk Region is a large part of Siberia. It's area is equal to 316,900 square km. This area is larger than area of Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland all together. The Tomsk Region is a part of the West Siberian Territory Production Complex. Here many deposits of oil, gas, iron ore, coal, peat were founded. So, petroleum extractive industry is very actively developed. Moreover, Tomsk specialists have made a valuable contribution in advancement of radioelectronics, precise mechanical engineering and metal working, up-to-date building industry, and automation means production.

Its offering of places to see and things to do is varied and diverse with three theatres, symphony orchestra, and many small chamber ensembles, museums of regional studies and fine arts, cinemas, libraries, cultural centers and galleries. This mix caters to most tastes in food and drink, music and entertainment. The city is also attractive to shoppers offering the ultimate in choice, from designer chic to antiques and crafts, specialist to second-hand, within compact pedestrian areas that are easy to find your way around.

As one of the oldest cities in Siberia, Tomsk has many architectural monuments to the past, wooden houses decorated by wood-carving. There exist numerous historical, cultural and architectural landmarks drawing visitor's attention. Like a magnet it attracts the best people of each epoch. More about Tomsk may be learned at these Web-sites: http://www.arttomsk.net/woodentomsk/, http://starina.tomsk.ru/, http://www.diep.tpu.ru/, http://www.tomsk.ru etc.