Since the Trans-Siberian
railway road was laid some hundred kilometers away from Tobolsk, the
town had gradually lost its former administrative and economic
significance. The life in Tobolsk seemed to have come to a stand-still
for decades.
Despite the fact that Tobolsk had been ranked among ordinary provincial
towns, the result of such ‘cultural isolation’ have proved to have some
positive trends. Under the Soviet regime, while some historical towns
had virtually been demolished away for the sake of industrial giants,
the majority of architectural monuments and of life-style patterns have
been preserved intact in Tobolsk.
The 60th years of the XXth centuries were marked with great changes in
the life of Tobolsk. In the process of large-scale oil and gas
development Tobolsk had become an important transportation link with the
northern territories. In 1967 a railway station was put into operation
integrated into the route Tyumen-Tobolsk – Surgut – Novyi Urengoi, and
connecting oil and gas provinces with big Russians cities. At the same
time a new shipyard was started up in Tobolsk that was regarded as an
important means of communication through the Ob-Irtysh basin. A
construction of the Tobolsk refinery plant in 1974 had even more
tangible impact upon the town’s economics. This large-scale project
contributed to a population increase more than in twice. By the end of
the 1980 about 100 thousand people lived in Tobolsk, and out of this
number a great part were builders and skilled specialists. In the upper
part of Tobolsk modern residential areas were rapidly growing, thus
forming a new center of the town.
Industrial changes had an impact upon cultural inheritance. Available
transportation links and a growth of well-being of the people
accelerated public interest towards cultural memorials of Tobolsk. A
negative trend of the process was marked with appearing a lot of the so
called ‘interim inhabitants’, who could not appreciate the unique
culture of the town, which caused a noticeable stratification among the
population. The 90th years were characterized by an all-country economic
crisis. A sharp drop of production in Tobolsk set to naught all positive
achievements of the previous years. But it was at that time that a real
significance of Tobolsk as a major spiritual and cultural center in
Siberia was appreciated by many people. Re-construction of churches and
monasteries by the Tobolsk-Tyumen eparchy, emerging of new branches and
architectural zones of the Tobolsk museum will revive a former fame of
Tobolsk.
