Tarbagatay Old Believers Villages (Desyatnikovo)
Десятниково / Тарбагатай
A village of Russian Old Believers known as “Semeisky,” with painted wooden houses, a folk museum, and a communal feast with choral singing. Its cultural practices are on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list.
Russian Old Believers exiled to Transbaikalia in the 18th century came to be known as the “Semeisky.” Their cultural space and oral traditions were inscribed on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2001. At the Desyatnikovo Village Folk Museum and at Tarbagatay Village, you can see wooden houses painted in blue and green, icons, and homemade bread, pickles, and fruit wine. Women in traditional dress perform multi-part choral singing. Home-style feasts and performances must be booked through a travel agency. The villages are about 50–60 km from Ulan-Ude.
Opening hours
By reservation only
Nearby sights
- Odigitrievsky Cathedral
- Ivolginsky Datsan
- Lenin Street Pedestrian Zone & Triumphal Arch
- Museum of Nature of Buryatia
- Buryat Opera and Ballet Theatre
- National Museum of the Republic of Buryatia
- Lenin Head Monument (Soviets Square)
- Rinpoche Bagsha Datsan