chichester harbour yacht club

Practical Boat Owner

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Chichester Marina and Harbour: a guide

• Alison Wood
• March 10, 2023

Tranquil Chichester Marina and the surrounding harbour is the perfect destination for sailors with time to explore this area of natural beauty, as Alison Wood reports

Chichester Marina is situated adjacent to the rolling West Sussex countryside. Credit: Premier Credit: Premier Marinas

Surrounded by countryside, Chichester Harbour in Sussex is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), covering almost 7,400 hectares.

Distinctive tidal channels lead to a maze of inlets that criss-cross expanses of saltmarsh and mudflats.

Aerial view out to seaward taken from Bosham. Credit: David A Easterly/Alamy

The shoreline is fringed by oak trees and vegetation, and there are centuries-old villages to explore, with mills, fishermens’ cottages and maritime traditions.

With 56 miles of shoreline walks, you can discover Chichester Harbour by foot as well as by boat, especially at low tide when much of the harbour is drying.

Chichester Marina

Chichester Marina was one of the first marinas to be built in the UK, opening in the mid-1960s, with a state-of-the-art boatyard being rebuilt in 2014.

Despite being the UK’s second largest marina its rural setting and low-key architecture add to the tranquil vibe, with nature walks right on the doorstep.

Holder of a Five Gold Anchors award, Premier Chichester marina is home to 1,100 berths, a boatyard with two boat hoists, slipway and boatshed.

Chichester Marina sits comfortably in its natural surroundings. Credit: Charlie Ross

On-site services include a chandlery, brokerage, rigging , cosmetic work, valeting and engineering.

The Boat House offers indoor and outdoor eating with harbour views and has a pizza oven which sells out on summer days.

Nearby Chichester Yacht Club is open day and night for food and coffee, and marina berth-holders and visitors have guest access.

A nice walk from the marina along the wooded, harbourside path takes you to Dell Quay, where you’ll find the traditional Crown & Anchor pub.

Facilities at Chichester Marina

Boats can be accommodated up to 22m length, 7m beam and 2.3m draught. Versadock (drive-on floating dock) is available as well as trailer sailer options for smaller craft.

Credit: Maggie Nelson

The marina offers secure berth holder parking, luxury toilets and showers and free wifi. For family and friends, or owners not wanting to stay overnight aboard, Premier has nine New England-style apartments ‘The Salterns’ situated within the marina.

Approach to Chichester Marina

Approach by sea is via the west pole beacon – cross Chichester Bar located at the entrance to the harbour. Once inside the harbour, head north-east past East Head and towards Itchenor.

The marina approach channel is dredged to approx. 0.5m below CD – vessels entering the marina should keep to the starboard side of the channel.

Chichester Bar is located at the entrance to the harbour and is dredged to approximately 1.5m below chart datum giving a depth of 2m at mean low water Springs; however, the bottom can vary up to 0.75m.

One to keep an eye on – tidal gauge indicates sill depth at the entrance to Emsworth harbour. Credit: Tony Cortazzi/Alamy

With an ebb tide and strong southerly winds, exercise caution and cross the Bar between three hours before and one hour after high water Springs.

As you approach Longmore Point ensure your VHF is on Ch80; on passing Birdham Spit pile call the marina using your boat’s call sign, advise your position and request lock entry.

View of Bosham from across the creek which mostly dries. Credit: Paul Weston/Alamy

The lock keeper will acknowledge your call and either instruct you to proceed to the lock on a green light or, in busy times, join the back of the queue for the lock and enter in turn upon a green signal light.

Day cruises

The Solent is just on your doorstep offering easy access east or west to some of the UK’s most popular cruising grounds.

Within a day’s sail of Chichester Marina you can visit the Isle of Wight or take a long leisurely cruise to picturesque Beaulieu River (with Buckler’s Hard and Beaulieu Motor Museum) and Lymington Harbour.

Weekend cruises

Chichester is an excellent start point for cross-Channel cruises and trips to Premier’s Gosport, Port Solent, Swanwick, Brighton and Eastbourne marinas – where berth holders can use their 42 free visitor night credits.

Longer distance

A little further afield you’ve got the West Country, Channel Islands, Cherbourg and the Brittany coastline.

Local attractions

Nestled at the foot of the South Downs, Chichester has many sandy beaches, fishing villages and family attractions including Goodwood House and Racecourse.

Chichester Marina is just four miles from the historic city of Chichester, with its theatres, galleries, 900-year-old cathedral, and the Novium Museum, charting 500,000 years of life in the city.

A Southerly 49 takes the ground on the beach at East Head. Credit: Michael Austen/Alamy

A short drive away is the village of Fishbourne, with the remains of a Roman Palace and gardens.

Further around the harbour takes you to the quaint village of Bosham with its village green and arts and crafts centre.

In addition to the small beach by the marina – where you can swim at high tide – there are the sandy beaches of East Head and The Witterings, with long unspoilt coastline stretching from West Wittering Beach to Bracklesham Bay.

• Chichester Marina, Birdham, Chichester, West Sussex PO20 7EJ. VHF Ch80. Tel: 01243 512731, premiermarinas.com
• Chichester Harbour Conservancy, conservancy.co.uk

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Local Knowledge about Chichester Marina and harbour

Peter Draper has a Dunkirk Little Ship

If you’ve a high-speed powerboat, Chichester Harbour isn’t for you. If you have a yacht or like to potter it’s ideal.

It’s a beautiful place: safe, secure inland cruising with many little creeks, and places to visit such as Emsworth and Bosham.

There’s a plethora of wildlife, and it’s also great for dinghy sailors.

I own a 1927 pilchard fishing boat, Caronia – which helped in the World War II evacuation of Dunkirk.

I’ve spent over a decade restoring her with my son and love to sail out of Chichester.

The harbour is a wonderful place to be. It’s what I consider the garden gate to the West Country.

Once through the gate you’ve got the safety and security of the Solent.

There’s Cowes, Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, and Lymington on the other side. Gosport is good for a night out, and then if you want to go further, have a stopover over in Yarmouth and you can do Poole or even Weymouth in a day’s sail (say 6 or 7 knots).

From there, you’re a day away from Dartmouth. Of course in a motorboat you’re in the West Country in a day.

• Peter runs Navigator’s Marine, based in Chichester Marina, navigatorsmarine.co.uk . His book Restoring a Dunkirk Little Ship: Caronia SS70 is available on Amazon

Gilbert Park has a Trusty T23 motorboat

If you can get to Emsworth Town Quay and be prepared to leave on the tide, it’s a marvellous place to visit.

There are lots of shops and lovely pubs and eateries, including a Michelin restaurant.

There’s a visitor mooring 1km away at all states of the tide, where you can dinghy in. West Head is extremely popular because of the sandy beach.

If I want to take my grandchildren there I’ll go in a boat that dries out in the morning and leave in the afternoon. It’s wonderful.

You’ve got all the facilities on the beach, and there’s an anchorage too.

For peace and quiet and a wonderful sunset, I go to Itchenor – there’s a lovely anchorage there.

If you prefer marinas, then Chichester Marina has all the facilities you need.

Traditional boats like to go to Birdham, and my grandchildren particularly like Northney Marina because it has a play area and barbecue spot.

Bosham is very pretty and dates back to the time of the Bayeux tapestry. Chichester is also a great place for birdwatchers.

We get all sorts of migratory birds stopping here, as well as lots of seals.

Adam McMenemy sails a Sabre 27

I have a fin keel boat so I have to be a bit careful about where I go. I like to explore the stretch of water from Chichester marina to Itchenor.

Bosham creek is beautiful too. There are visitor moorings there and you can stay overnight.

My favourite spot is Hayling Island Sailing Club. It’s a beautiful little club, and has sandy beaches, fantastic views, good food and the bar’s always open.

Visiting yachtsmen are welcome at the club.

From Hayling Island it’s not too far to Birdham Pool, which is a great place to have lunch. I work as a marine electrician out of Emsworth Yacht Harbour in Emsworth Marina.

It’s a really nice village.

The marina is tidal, but it has a sill, so once you’re in you’ve got water.

East Head beach is half an hour’s walk from West Wittering so it’s mostly only sailors who go there.

There’s a sandy beach with dunes around it, and you can anchor overnight.

• Adam runs ACM Marine, facebook.com/AcmMarine

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Chichester Yacht Club

Adult and junior

Chichester Yacht Club Birdham Road Chichester PO20 7EJ United Kingdom

Chichester Yacht Club (opens new window)

[email protected]

01243 512918

Additional information

A friendly and informal club that warmly welcomes new and experienced sailors: - Open all year with a full social and events calendar both on and off the water. - An RYA recognised training centre, and in-house expert coaching - adults and juniors, dinghies and powerboats. - One of the largest cruising in company programmes for yachts and motors on the south coast. - Club dinghies available to hire for casual sailing and racing - Clubhouse with restaurant and welcoming bar - Open 7 days a week.

Dell Quay Sailing Club

Dell Quay Sailing Club Dell Quay Appledram Chichester West Sussex PO20 7EE United Kingdom

Dell Quay Sailing Club (opens new window)

[email protected]

01243 785080

Dell Quay Sailing Club is a relaxed, friendly sailing club, a happy place for families, couples, and individuals to enjoy in the sheltered waters of Chichester Harbour or the Solent. The club itself is in one of the most picturesque locations to be found in Chichester harbour. The main club building houses a bar, lounge area, galley and changing rooms with hot showers. There is also a converted grain warehouse providing a race office, office/training room and workshop as well as a spacious shed for storage. There are berthing spaces for a large number of dinghies and a number of drying moorings for yachts.

Dell Quay welcomes Paddle Boarders & Kayakers to enjoy this idyllic setting, perfect for exploring the harbour by paddle board. We have a floating pontoon which serves as a great launch for paddle boarders, and a club house with superb views across the harbour. The club wishes to encourage paddle boarders & Kayakers to join as members, and be a part of this active and sociable sailing club. Sailing events run all year round with racing for adults and juniors, a junior training week during the summer holidays, dinghy cruising and cruiser rallies within the harbour, the Solent and as far afield as Brittany.

We also provide training course on both power and sail to Members only through our RYA Training Centre. We hope this introduction has encouraged you to find out more about Dell Quay Sailing Club, but the best way is to come down and see for yourself. Please contact us and someone will be pleased to show you around.

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Dell Quay and Birdham

Further up the creek opens out to a large expanse of water at Birdham, home of the Chichester Yacht Club and Chichester Marina. It is possible to find a peaceful anchorage just off the side of the channel and watch the harbour wildlife.

Or press on further up the channel to discover Dell Quay Sailing Club and the Chichester Harbour Conservancy Education Centre on the quay itself. Visiting yachtsmen are welcome to eat at Chichester YC and if you time the tides right it’s possible to reach the Crown and Anchor pub just besides Dell Quay.

Inland from Dell Quay, you can visit the Roman Villa and historic city of Chichester and its amazing 11th-century cathedral.

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“A 7 mile walk around thorney island and a lovely church. Free parking but security gates etch. Stunning views across to IOW and to Hauling and Portsmouth….”

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Thornham Marina, Thornham Lane, Prinsted, Nr. Emsworth, Hampshire, PO10 8DD

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A great sold-out Chichester Yacht Club Dinghy Week 2020

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• Dinghy Hire

Welcome to the CYC Dinghy Section, which provides a focus for all the Clubs immediate waterfront activities: training and coaching, racing and cruising, sailing and small powerboat operations. It manages an extensive dinghy park, offering probably the best value storage on Chichester Harbour. It looks after a number of Club boats which are provided for hire, training and safety purposes, and benefits from the Clubs well provided changing facilities and training rooms, as well as the restaurant and bar areas.

Club Racing

Dinghy racing is organised for Club members most weekends from April to October. Standard Race Series run on a Saturday or Sunday over four to six weekends, with two or three races a day. During the summer we run a series for novice racers. We also run an Evening Series over the summer. The majority of races are in Handicap Fleets. All classes of dinghy sailed in the Club are welcome to join in the racing. Racing at CYC is run by the members using volunteers to man patrol boats and run the races.

Open Meetings

Open meetings are held throughout the year for a number of classes, including Merlin Rocket, Solo, Europe  Laser, 2000, Topper and Optimist. There is also a Chichester Yacht Club Regatta. Dinghy Week, Frozen Toe & Snowflake Series are all Open Meetings.

Winter Series

Chichester runs 2 Open Winter Series, Frozen Toe (November-December) and Snowflake (January-March). These popular events regularly attract over 80 boats and are normally every other Sunday (depending on tides).

Dinghy Week

Dinghy Week is a week of fun on and off the water. With youth training, race coaching and a well attended race series. In the evenings we organise a range of fun social events for the children and for adults. Please contact the office for more information.

RYA Training Centre

Chichester Yacht Club is a RYA Recognised Training Centre. We offer RYA courses for junior beginners and improvers. These courses are offered to members and non-members. Members only adult coaching is offered to all abilities :  Beginner, Intermediate and Race Coaching.  We can also arrange certificated training on an ad hoc basis  .

Dinghy Sailing Training

There are regular training and coaching sessions for Club members, both adults and juniors. The Club has a small fleet of boats available for hire by Club members: Optimists, Toppers, Fevas, Lasers, a 2000 and Argos.

Other Training

The Club also offers courses in Race Management, Powerboat skills and First Aid. There are sessions for Midweek Sailing (formerly Women on Water men welcome!), After School Sailing and Cruising skills.

Dinghy Cruising

The Club is perfectly placed for leisure sailing in the beautiful waters of Chichester Harbour, with  popular trips to local villages and beaches. The Club is open on weekdays as well as at weekends and all facilities are available to cruising Club members.

Last updated 14:06 on 23 July 2024

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Chichester harbour Yacht/Sailing Clubs

• Thread starter Lucky Duck
• Start date 1 Aug 2016

Well-known member

SWMBO and myself have recently moved near the Western end of Chichester Harbour and have been looking at joining a club which supports dinghy sailing and ideally offers a good programme of rallies and "club" racing for my old tub. Google gives a wide range of types of clubs with a similar range of membership fees and with at least one club claiming not to be accepting new members until September. Any advice on places to consider or avoid would be most appreciated.  

Another option possibly worth bearing in mind is the ' Chichester Harbour Yacht Racing Association ' or whatever it's / was called, if someone can say if it's still going ? This was not a club with a clubhouse, but I remember quite a lot of races per season one just registered for and turned up at - never went for it myself but I remember ad's at Emsworth Marina and Chichester Yacht Club. My club is welcoming , active and good value but assuming you have a deep fin keeler is probably not ideal for you, unless you joined and kept the boat on a deep water mooring or marina, as a lot of members do - we have quite a few rallies but only one fairly casual race per season.  

derekgillard

You could try CCRC no dinghy sailing but they race most weekends and have a good social scene. Derek  

http://www.ccrc.co.uk/ for your cruiser racing, cruising in company & social etc http://hisc.co.uk/ for seasonal cruiser racing, mid week evening fun cruiser racing & massive dingy racing scene, regattas, championships, general sailing and buggering about afloat, great beaches, great club house, full all year round calendar of activities, dinning, partying etc etc etc  

Little Grebe said: SWMBO and myself have recently moved near the Western end of Chichester Harbour and have been looking at joining a club which supports dinghy sailing and ideally offers a good programme of rallies and "club" racing for my old tub. Google gives a wide range of types of clubs with a similar range of membership fees and with at least one club claiming not to be accepting new members until September. Any advice on places to consider or avoid would be most appreciated. Click to expand...

Langstone SC is an hour from the harbour entrance; I find the trip to and from Chichester Marina a lot longer, with the added fun of much more traffic. Tons of dinghy racing and rallies etc, but for cruisers / big boats it's really just rallies, not club racing; a fair number of members have fin keelers and keep the boats at deep moorings or marinas, using the excellent facilities inc clubhouse & mobile hoist in winter. Another option would be to keep the boat at Hayling Yacht Co or one of the other pontoon / mooring supplers and race via the Chichester racing outfit. If looking at ANY moorings around Chichester Harbour, be sure to check on car parking and secure rigid tender storage. Marinas of course are Northney - excellent facilities, 90% deep access but a bit soul-less Sparkes - heard of silting in the approach but worth checking - a bit dead last I saw it and means driving the length of Hayling, not good on busy weekends or peak times Chichester Marina - good facilities but tidally restricted by approach channel & lock I don't think you'd find Emsworth Marina suitable for a fin keeler in regular use, otherwise it's by far the most pleasant - but last I heard full anyway !  

Tidewaiter2

Unfortunately as I have become accustomed to keeping my boat in a marina without tidal limitations, I don't think keeping it adjacent to the club would be possible unless I kept it somewhere the Hamble or Lymington. I kept my last boat in a club marina and do occasionally miss that aspect. As today's weather wasn't particularly conducive to sailing we walked to Emsworth, both clubs seemed to have adequate facilities (although tidally limited) for dinghies but I believe Emsworth Slipper SC isn't accepting new members right now. The yacht haven looks much improved since I last looked around almost 20 years back but I could only comfortably get over the cill on very big springs. Makes the access window at somewhere like Woodbridge or Tollesbury look almost generous! With membership fees of around £650 per year plus a joining fee of £350 and £150 each year for the dinghy we will have to give HISC a miss. Does anybody have experience of The club at Bosham?  

While I have visited Bosham Channel by dinghy and cruiser many times, I have limited experience of Bosham SC; all contact or visits I have made they have been a very helpful and friendly lot. Not sure what they do about parking - the public car park is a long trek to carry stuff - and of course beware the tide if parking anywhere else, the Anchor Bleu has a board full of photo's of flooded cars ! Not sure about cruisers ashore for the winter either; NB Thornham Boatyward is excellent, good rates too; forget the pontoons though. Depending on whether the hoist would take your draft, consider a marina - Northney probably - and Langstone SC, you may be pleasantly surprised by the club and fees. I agree with Tidewaiter re HISC, I was a member there when I had a fin keeler and did not find it a pleasant experience, a lot of ' Air Traffic Controllers rather than Pilots '... Bosham and a mooring would be good, think it would be a muddy experience with the tender near LW but a very pleasant place to be.  

langstonelayabout

You could, of course, keep your fin keeled boat on a Chichester Harbour Conservancy or Langstone Harbour Board swinging mooring and bring it ashore at your chosen club in the winter? I nearly put my boat on a Langstone HB mooring. Good VFM, includes harbour dues and you get a choice as to where you keep your dinghy. The voice at the HB did say ”I hope your tender isn’t too shiny as we don’t provide any security”. My response was along the lines of: “It’s a good one. It cost me £50”. I could feel the smile coming down the phone line… You’ll need a small outboard to use most of Langstone HB or Chichester HCs moorings but they are properly maintained. In the end I went to Wicormarine and have no plans to move elsewhere.  

Little Grebe said: Unfortunately as I have become accustomed to keeping my boat in a marina without tidal limitations, I don't think keeping it adjacent to the club would be possible unless I kept it somewhere the Hamble or Lymington. I kept my last boat in a club marina and do occasionally miss that aspect. As today's weather wasn't particularly conducive to sailing we walked to Emsworth, both clubs seemed to have adequate facilities (although tidally limited) for dinghies but I believe Emsworth Slipper SC isn't accepting new members right now. The yacht haven looks much improved since I last looked around almost 20 years back but I could only comfortably get over the cill on very big springs. Makes the access window at somewhere like Woodbridge or Tollesbury look almost generous! With membership fees of around £650 per year plus a joining fee of £350 and £150 each year for the dinghy we will have to give HISC a miss. Does anybody have experience of The club at Bosham? Click to expand...

Thanks will send a PM once I'm ashore  

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Omsk city, Russia

The capital city of Omsk oblast .

Omsk - Overview

Omsk is one of the largest cities in Russia, a major scientific, cultural, sports, transport, and industrial center. The administrative center of Omsk Oblast, it is the second most populous city in Siberia.

The population of Omsk is about 1,126,000 (2022), the area - 567 sq. km.

The phone code - +7 3812, the postal codes - 644000-644246.

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Omsk city latest news and posts from our blog:.

10 November, 2019 / Tomsk - the view from above .

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20 October, 2012 / The bear at the gate .

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History of Omsk

Foundation of omsk.

The need to build a Russian fortress on the banks of the Irtysh at the mouth of the Om River arose in connection with the steppe nomadic peoples. In particular, with the Oirats, whose tribes in the first decades of the 17th century began to appear within the borders of the Russian state being under the onslaught of their external enemies and as a result of internal civil strife. However, various foreign and domestic political problems of Russia hindered the development and defense of the South Siberian borders.

The situation changed only at the beginning of the 18th century, when the Russian conquest of Siberia intensified. Since Peter I paid great attention to geographical research in the south, the expeditions of that time combined socio-political tasks and tasks of scientific research.

One of such expeditions was led by the Russian military and statesman, associate of Peter I, Major General Ivan Bukhgolts. The goals of the expedition, numbering about 3,000 people, were to search for ore and gold deposits, the discovery of trade routes to India and China, as well as the construction of towns on the Irtysh River.

The expedition left Tobolsk to the south along the Irtysh in July 1715. In the spring of 1716, after a conflict with the Dzungars in the north of today’s Kazakhstan, the remnants of the expedition (about 700 people) withdrew to the mouth of the Om River, where they laid a new fortress named Omsky ostrog (fortified settlement).

According to the census of 1725, 992 people lived in the fortress, in 1742 - 1,092 people. From the first years of its existence, it served as a place of exile for prisoners. After serving hard labor and imprisonment, a lot of them stayed in Omsk for permanent residence.

More Historical Facts…

Omsk in the second half of the 18th century

The ethnic composition of the region’s population was formed in the process of settling the territory. Russians, Germans, Ukrainians, Poles, Belarusians, and representatives of many other nationalities were sent here to serve or were exiled. The indigenous people of the region were the Siberian Tatars and Kazakhs, who switched to a sedentary lifestyle.

The foundation of the second Omsk fortress took place in 1762. The first fortress, although it occupied a favorable geographical position, was wooden and, by the middle of the 18th century, it was dilapidated. In 1765, new stone fortifications were constructed. The first stone structure of the fortress was the Resurrection Military Cathedral, built in 1773 and preserved to this day.

In the end of the 18th century, the Omsk fortress was one of the largest structures in the eastern part of the Russian Empire, its area was more than 30 hectares. In 1782, it was transformed into a town named Omsk within the Tobolsk Governorate. In 1785, the coat of arms of Omsk was approved.

Omsk became the center of management of the Siberian transport routes and the Siberian Cossack army, which not only guarded the South Siberian borders, but also made a huge contribution to the economic development of the steppe expanses of Kazakhstan, the annexation of Central Asia to the Russian Empire.

Omsk in the 19th century

The fire of 1819 destroyed almost half of the town including the archive and the magistrate of Omsk with all the first archival documents. Therefore information about the life of Omsk in the 18th - early 19th centuries is scarce and fragmentary. In 1825, the population of the town was about 9,000 people.

In 1829, the town’s development plan was approved. It was made by the famous Petersburg architect V.I. Geste, who took the city of St. Petersburg as a model with its wide avenues, huge neighborhoods, fountains, cast-iron bridges, and an abundance of green spaces.

The composition of the population of Omsk was not quite usual. In the middle of the 19th century, since Omsk was the center of the military and civil administration, the proportion of the military in the local population reached about 60%.

Fyodor Dostoevsky (one of the greatest psychological novelists in world literature), who served a term of hard labor in the Omsk prison in 1850-1854, in a letter to his brother gave Omsk the following description: “Omsk is a disgusting town. There are almost no trees. In summer, heat and wind with sand, in winter, a snowstorm. I have not seen nature. The town is dirty, military and highly depraved.”

By the second half of the 19th century, Omsk in its development outstripped many steppe towns and became not only an administrative, but also a commercial and industrial center. In 1861, in Omsk, there were 2,122 houses (31 stone houses), 34 factories and plants, about 20 thousand residents.

In 1892, the construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway began, which gave a new impetus to the economy of Siberian towns and positively influenced Omsk. The development of the Trans-Siberian Railway caused an increase in the urban population due to migrants who came to work from the central part of the Russian Empire. According to the 1897 census, 37.3 thousand people lived in Omsk. The town had 14 streets with a total length of more than 140 km and 13 squares.

Omsk in the first half of the 20th century

The beginning of the 20th century was a time of great changes for Siberia. Mass peasant colonization caused a sharp leap in the development of the region’s economy, primarily its agrarian sector, and the Trans-Siberian Railway ensured the inclusion of the local economy in the system of the All-Russian and European markets.

Due to its favorable economic and geographical position - at the intersection of the railway and the Irtysh River, in the middle of a vast agricultural territory - Omsk quickly turned into a large transport, trade and industrial center of Western Siberia and Governor-Generalship of the Steppes (Eastern and Central Kazakhstan).

Wholesale trade in bread, butter and other agricultural products was concentrated here. Omsk also became one of the industrial, social and cultural centers of Western Siberia. By 1903, the city’s population grew to 60 thousand people. In 1914, it had about 134.8 thousand residents. Omsk became the most populous city in Siberia.

During the Civil War on the territory of the former Russian Empire, from June 1918 to November 1919, Omsk was the residence of the Supreme Ruler of Russia, Admiral Alexander Kolchak, who declared this city the capital of white Russia opposing red Russia of the Bolsheviks. Soviet power was finally established in the city in 1920.

In the summer of 1921, an event took place that had a decisive impact on the cultural and economic life of Omsk. The functions of the administrative center of Siberia were transferred from it to the city of Novonikolaevsk (future Novosibirsk). In 1934, Omsk became the administrative center of a separate Omsk Oblast.

Over the years of industrialization, Omsk became one of the largest centers for agricultural engineering in the USSR. The metal-working industry also developed at a rapid pace. In 1939, Omsk numbered more than 288 thousand people.

During the Second World War, about 200 industrial enterprises were evacuated to Omsk, as well as 60 hospitals, dozens of educational institutions, theaters, museums, and hundreds of thousands of refugees.

Omsk after the Second World War

In the post-war years, new enterprises were put into operation in Omsk, all existing factories and plants were reconstructed and expanded. The industrial potential of the city was also strengthened by the Omsk oil refinery, the largest in the country. In connection with the rapid development of industry, especially petrochemical enterprises, the ecological situation deteriorated. The concentration of harmful substances in the air sharply increased. In 1964, the population of Omsk was about 702 thousand people.

In the 1970s-1980s, Omsk developed rapidly. In 1975, the city’s population exceeded 1 million. The most pressing problem was the ecological situation. Omsk was in the top 10 cities of Russia in terms of environmental pollution. Another problem that required an immediate solution was the development of passenger transport. The capacity of Omsk streets was exhausted, and therefore the construction of the subway became an urgent issue.

The economic crisis that gripped Russia after the collapse of the USSR had a negative impact on the economy of Omsk and the region as a whole. There was a significant decline in industrial production, construction volumes fell, and unemployment rose. A lot of organizations of the defense complex, research institutes, and design bureaus found themselves in a deep crisis without the state defense order.

The share of mechanical engineering and metalworking, light industry, and, to a lesser extent, chemical and petrochemical, forestry and woodworking industries decreased. At the same time, the share of the fuel industry, energy, and construction materials industry began to grow.

In the 2000s, Omsk again became one of the most important economic centers of Western Siberia with a developing mechanical engineering, petrochemical industry, various branches of the woodworking, construction industry, and a highly productive agro-industrial complex. In recent years, Omsk has also acquired the features of one of the largest Siberian centers of entrepreneurship and banking/financial activities.

Architecture of Omsk

On the street in Omsk

Author: Tim Brown

Yak-9 fighter aircraft in front of the aerospace engineering company Polyot in Omsk

The Omsk Cadet Corps

Author: Stanislav Katsko

Omsk - Features

Omsk is located in the south of the West Siberian Plain at the confluence of the Om River into the Irtysh, about 150 km from the border of Russia with Kazakhstan. About 60% of all residents of Omsk Oblast live in Omsk. The City Day of Omsk is celebrated on the first Saturday of August.

The city’s coat of arms is very similar to the first coat of arms of Omsk approved by Empress Catherine II in 1785. It depicts a part of the brick fortifications, which symbolizes the reason for its foundation as a fortress and the center of the Siberian defensive line.

Omsk belongs to the temperate climatic zone with a continental climate of the forest-steppe of the West Siberian belt. It is distinguished by an abundance of sunlight. The average air temperature in January is minus 16.3 degrees Celsius, in July - plus 19.6 degrees Celsius. The highest wind speeds are observed in winter and spring, which is the reason for frequent snow and dust storms.

In the past, the ecological situation in Omsk was very unfavorable. Since 2011, the city’s environmental development rating has increased significantly. This was the result of large-scale modernization of many large industries (including the Omsk oil refinery). Today, road transport is the main source of air pollution in the city.

The level of pollution of the Omsk rivers - Irtysh and Om - remains consistently high. Swimming in them is prohibited. While industrial effluents are becoming more environmentally friendly, sewers are releasing waste products including diesel fuel and petroleum products into the rivers. Dust raised by dust storms is also a serious problem for the city as it contains a lot of harmful substances including lead.

The city’s industry is based on oil refining, petrochemistry, chemical industry, mechanical engineering (production of aerospace equipment, armored vehicles, agricultural equipment). Omsk is a major transport junction - the Trans-Siberian Railway runs through the city from west to east, and the navigable Irtysh River crosses it from south to north. Omsk Airport offers regular flights to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Surgut, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk, Salekhard, Kazan, Krasnodar, Sochi.

The unfinished subway of Omsk has become famous in Russia thanks to its only one fully built station. Its construction began back in 1992. However, due to funding problems, the completion of the first line was postponed numerous times. In 2019, it was finally decided to permanently stop construction. For local residents, because of the long wait for the completion of the construction, the Omsk metro symbolizes unrealizable hopes, they talk about it with irony.

In Omsk, there are practically no buildings higher than 50 meters, according to this parameter it is one of the lowest cities with a population of over one million. 130 architectural monuments are concentrated in the central part of the city, almost half of the total number.

Main Attractions of Omsk

Dormition Cathedral - the largest church in Omsk located in the very center of the city. The original church was built in 1891-1898. In 1935, it was completely destroyed. In 2005-2007, an exact copy of the building was restored in its original place. This is one of the most beautiful buildings in Omsk. At night, the building is illuminated and looks especially majestic. Tarskaya Street, 7.

Irtysh Embankment - the main walking street of Omsk with a picturesque view of the Irtysh River. Built in the middle of the 20th century, the embankment was reconstructed in the 2000s. You can walk along the alley on foot, ride rollerblades or a bike.

Merchant Batyushkin’s Mansion (1902). This architectural monument is located on the Irtysh Embankment. It is also known as the Kolchak’s House because Alexander Kolchak, the Supreme Ruler of Russia, lived in this building in 1919. One part of the building is occupied by the registry office of the Central District of Omsk. The Center for the Study of the History of the Russian Civil War is also open here. Irtyshskaya Naberezhnaya Street, 9.

Omsk State Museum of History and Local Lore - one of the oldest museums in Siberia and Russia founded in 1878. In total, this museum has over 200 thousand various objects of cultural, historical and artistic value. The museum is especially proud of such exhibits as the cast-iron figures of the Chinese lions Shi-Tzu, presented to the museum from China in 1895, as well as the skeleton of a woolly mammoth almost 3 meters high. Lenina Street, 23?.

Omsk Regional Museum of Fine Arts named after M.A. Vrubel - one of the largest museums of fine arts in Siberia. It has collections of foreign and Russian art from antiquity to the present day. In total, there are over 22 thousand works by painters, graphic artists and sculptors, as well as more than 1.5 thousand rare folios.

Walking through the exhibition halls, you can admire the canvases of Shishkin, Aivazovsky, Surikov, Repin, Serov, Vereshchagin. The exhibition of rare icons dating from the 17th-20th centuries is of constant interest among visitors, as well as a unique collection of jewelry made of precious metals found in the Scythian and Sarmatian burial mounds. Two buildings of the museum are located at Lenina Street 3 and 23.

In November 2019, a new exhibition was opened in a historical building at Muzeynaya Street, 4 - the exhibition of art of the 20th-21st centuries. The Hermitage-Siberia Center is located here too - the first representation of The State Hermitage Museum (the second-largest art museum in the world) beyond the Urals.

Chokana Valikhanova Street - a pedestrian street located in the historic part of Omsk. The street is decorated with abstract architectural forms, flower beds, wrought-iron lanterns. The walking area ends with an observation deck with a picturesque view of the Irtysh River.

Museum of Kondraty Belov . The museum of this landscape painter born in Omsk can be found in a picturesque wooden house, which is considered one of the most interesting architectural monuments of Omsk. The exposition tells about the life and work of Kondraty Belov, as well as about the history of the building itself.

In total, this museum has about 700 exhibits. The permanent exhibition also includes works by Kondraty Belov’s son Stanislav and paintings by some other local artists. In addition, temporary exhibitions of contemporary Omsk artists are regularly held here. Chokana Valikhanova Street, 10.

Plumber Stepanych Monument - an unusual sculpture located in the center of Omsk, which you can literally stumble upon while walking along Lenin Street between the houses #12 and #14. Leaning out of the hatch, the plumber is depicted as realistic and life-size as possible. It is among the most photographed monuments in Omsk. There is a similar sculpture in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.

Lyuba Monument . This sculpture, located on the opposite side of Lenin Street from the monument to the plumber Stepanych, is especially loved by Omsk residents and tourists, who love to be photographed against its background.

This beauty in a lace dress with a neckline and a crinoline sitting on an openwork bench and reading a novel had a real prototype - Lyubov (diminutively Lyuba or Lyubasha) Gasford, the wife of the Governor-General of Siberia, who lived in Omsk in the 19th century and died at a young age due to illness. One of the streets of Omsk and the park are named in her memory. She is a local symbol of femininity and beauty.

Omsk Fire Tower - a picturesque architectural monument built at the beginning of the 20th century. Inside the tower there are museum expositions dedicated to the local fire brigade and the history of tower construction. Internatsionalnaya Street, 41?.

Park of Culture and Rest named after the 30th anniversary of the Komsomol - a popular place for walks, recreation and entertainment of Omsk residents and tourists, which has retained “the spirit of the Soviet era” in its name. Today, on an area of 73 hectares, several zones have been organized, various types of recreation are presented. There are walking alleys, ponds, water activities, for example, riding on hydro-scooters.

The ice town is open in winter, the Return of the Dinosaurs exhibition - in summer. The “House Upside Down” exposition is also popular with tourists. This park is a place for mass festivities, city celebrations and events. Maslenitsa, Christmas, City Day, and other holidays are celebrated here. Maslennikova Street, 136.

Natural Park “Bird Harbor” - a specially protected area located on the path of bird migration in the central part of Omsk. During autumn flights, up to 3 thousand birds stop here for rest. It is a great place to enjoy nature, walk along the eco-trail, and observe the life of birds. The park is situated in the floodplain on the left bank of the Irtysh River next to the Victory Park on Yeniseyskaya Street.

Omsk city of Russia photos

Pictures of omsk.

Bogdan Khmelnitsky Monument in Omsk

Lenin Monument in Omsk

Churches of Omsk

Chapel of St. George in Omsk

Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Omsk

Cathedral of the Nativity in Omsk

Sights of Omsk

Fountain with frogs in the park next to the main building of the Agricultural Academy in Omsk

Author: Alexey Pavlov

Church of St. Nicholas in Omsk

Exaltation of the Holy Cross Cathedral in Omsk

Author: Stanislav Vosinsky

The questions of our visitors

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