Minus village was founded on the bank of the river Minusa (the right tributary of Yenisei) for service purpose - to attend on Lukazskiy and Irbinsky plants which were built in XVIII century. In 1797 it became the center of the district and in 1897 - the regional center.

Nowadays Minusinsk is a monument of old architecture. Every street here is marked by a historical event, especially in the old part of the city. It is green and clean with old merchants' houses. The new part of the city is full of modern buildings, shops and trade centers. Architectural and design solutions amaze by diversity. The contemporary cinema "Aliance" is built according to the best world traditions. It offers the same level of service as Moscow cinemas. The recreational center "Sto karat" proudly stands among old brick houses.

Minusinsk's climate is warm and pleasant. Due to this fact this city is considered to be a fruit and vegetable paradise. Every year a famous tomato fair is held here in the end of summer. A lot of local farmers come to Minusinsk to celebrate the Day of tomato. All citizens go to the fair to see amazing fruit and vegetables of the farmers. Almost every agricultural crop grows in this district - watermelons, cherry, plums, apricots etc. Minusinsk tomatoes are especially popular. People say that the seed of Minusinsk tomatoes were brought here by exile revolutionists.

Another legend says that old poplars on one of the banks of Minusinsk channel are also a present from revolutionists. Now it is impossible to imagine the city without this small grove.

As Minusinsk is situated far from political centre of Russia, it has gradually become a place of exile for state criminals, who left a memorable effect in social and cultural life of the city. Minusinsk was the exile place for 9 Decembrists, for polish rebels of 1830-1831, 1863-1864, social revolutionists and social democrats. Recently the house of the Decembrist Kireev was restored in the city. The founder of St. Petersburg ethnographic museum D. Klements, duke Alexandr Kropotkin and many other famous people lived in Minusinsk.

Life and destiny of many literature geniuses is also connected to Minusinsk. Yanchevetsky Vasily (the author of the novels "Genghis-Khan", "Batiy" etc.) wrote and performed his plays in Minusinsk drama theatre. Petr Petrov started his career in literature in Minusinsk's partisan newspaper. Aleksey Cherkasov created the idea of the famous trilogy about Siberian people here in Minusinsk. He gathered material for the books, worked in the regional museum and the city's archive.

All these people and many other famous names prove that Minusinsk possesses a great cultural level. 

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City official website: www.minusinsk.info