Sayanogorsk is situated 87 km far from Abakan city on the territory of Khakasia. This is the youngest and quickly developing town of the republic. Its length is 60 km along the river Yenisei. Sayanogorsk was founded in 1975, in the period of Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station building. The population of the town is 66.1 thousand people.

The town is situated on the place of an ancient village Oznachennoe. There was a border stone post and a watch tower to protect Khakasian land in 1717. In 1830 peasants from the village Ochury founded a village here which later was named Oznachennoe. The new history of Oznachennoe village began when Sayano-Shushenskaya station was founded. In 1968 big modern houses began to be built here. In 1973 "Sayanmramor" marble industrial complex began its work. Hydroelectric power station construction was the reason of this region's rapid development.

Nowadays there are 8 industrial complexes situated here. They include Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, Maynskaya hydroelectric power station, Sayanogorsk aluminum plant, "Sayanmramor" plant (the biggest stone-working plant in Russia) which produces marble and granite plates.

Sayanogorsk is not only an industrial town, but also a cultural one. There are a lot of sightseeing places situated in it. Tourists who visit Sayanogorsk usually visit Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station, Orhono-Yeniseisk script monument, trout farm "Silver bay", Borus mountain ridge, Sayanogorsk regional museum and the Museum of hydroelectric power station.

Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station is the most powerful station in Russia (6.4 million kilowatt). Its height is 245 meters, the length of the upper part is 1070 meters, of the low part - 110 meters. The width is 25 meters. Hydroelectric power station dumb forms a water basin of 31.34 cubic kilometers. Its area is 621 square kilometers.

Orhono-Yeniseisk script monument is a stone stele with ancient Turkic runic inscriptions which stands at the entrance of the town. It is a large copy of a stele that was found on the bank of the river Orhon in Mongolia. The festival of Turkic script is held annually near the stele.

Trout farm "Silver bay" is located near Maynskaya hydroelectric power station. The farm deals not only with fish rearing but also sells it. So everybody who wants can buy fresh fish there.

Borus mountain ridge is situated 10 km far from Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station. In 1995 it was included in the nature reserve "Shushensky bor". More than 100 people visit this mountain everyday during tourist season.

Sayanogorsk regional museum was opened on the 1^st of September in 1999. The most valuable thing of the museum is the collection of bronze things of different epochs.

The museum of hydroelectric power station is situated inside the building of Sayano-Shushenskaya station. There are more than 600 exhibits presented in the museum. You can see many photos and original documents here.

GMT +8 hours

City official website: http://www.sayanogorsk.info