Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions were the last to join the project to create the longest tourist route in Russia. It will follow in the footsteps of the «Great Northern Expedition» of the 18th century under the leadership of Vitus Bering and will cover more than 20 cities from St. Petersburg to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, a member of the Russian Geographical Society Ildar Mamatov said on Friday at the TASS press center in Novosibirsk.
«Some of the cities have already been described, routes have been drawn up along them, test trips have been carried out. The route today can unite 29 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. We have included the Novosibirsk and Tomsk regions not so long ago,» he said.
According to Mamatov, the general route will consist of separate tourist offers for several cities. For example, Novosibirsk — Tomsk — Kemerovo — Novokuznetsk — Biysk — Barnaul or Osa — Perm — Solikamsk — Kungur. If desired, travelers will be able to combine these modules as a constructor and walk the entire route of the Bering expedition, which may take more than one year.
As part of a press conference at TASS, an agreement on cooperation on this project was signed between the Tourist Information Centers of the Novosibirsk Region and the Perm Territory.
Konstantin Golodyaev, an employee of the Novosibirsk Museum, local historian, noted that although the route of Bering’s expedition passed much north of the Novosibirsk region, our region also took part in it. «All Siberia, mainly eastern, all its villages were engaged in equipping this expedition. They collected» luggage for the expedition of Mr. Commander Bering. «A huge amount of provisions and equipment was required ,» he said.
The motor rally and expedition were organized by the residents of the Perm Territory, within the framework of the «Routes of the Great Northern Expedition» project. As a result, the longest tourist route in the world will be created. The second Kamchatka (Great Northern) expedition led by the Russian officer Vitus Bering took place in 1733-1743, it made it possible to clarify the borders and draw up the first map of the Russian Empire.