Irkutsk (Ирку́тск), the chief town of the Irkutsk Oblast, is one of the most important places in Siberia, being not only the principal commercial depot north of Tashkent, but also a fortified military post, an archbishopric of the Russian Orthodox Church and the seat of several learned societies.
Irkutsk grew out of the winter-quarters established (1652) by Ivan Pokhabov for the collection of the fur tax from the Buryats. Its existence as a town dates from 1686.
The most significant person in the religious life of Irkutsk is Saint Innocent of Irkutsk (1797–1879, born Ivan Veniaminov) who was born near to Irkutsk, later in Orthodox priesthood. He did missionary travels with his family to the Aleutians. He learned local languages and translated the gospels and the hymns. Later, after his wife died, Veniaminov became a monk, Innocent. He was raised as a bishop, and then the archbishop of Irkutsk (till 1867 when he was appointed to the metropolitan Moscow). His title as a saint is "Miracleworker Innocent of Irkutsk".
On July 27, 2004, Irkutsk's synagogue built in 1881 suffered from an electrical fire. A cathedral (built of wood in 1693 and rebuilt of stone in 1718), the governor's palace, a school of medicine, a museum, a military hospital, and the crown factories are among the public institutions and buildings. The illustrious natives of Irkutsk include Afanasy Shchapov and Nikolay Okhlopkov.