House of the Decembrist Ivan Ivanovich Gorbachevsky, in which he lived from 1864 to 1869.

«The Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky City Library named after I.I. Gorbachevsky was established in 1865 at the initiative of the Decembrist I.I. Gorbachevsky. Its initial collection comprised books left by Decembrists departing from the Petrovsky Plant for settlement, volumes from the prison-casemate communal library, and Gorbachevsky’s personal books-among them, Alexander Herzen’s ‘Kolokol’ (The Bell) and ‘Polyarnaya Zvezda’ (Polar Star). After Gorbachevsky’s death, the library closed. It was reopened in 1927. The library’s subsequent revival is credited to Z.P. Alexandrova and Z.I. Konarovskaya, graduates of the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens, who were dispatched to Transbaikalia under the direction of N.K. Krupskaya. Since 1956, the library has occupied the house where Gorbachevsky had lived. The library building has the status of a historical monument  of republican significance (Decree of the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR No. 1327 of August 30, 1960). The collection now comprises 22,502 items. A memorial plaque was affixed to the building in 1981. The building is included on   city excursion routes».

Kukulesku V.G. Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky City Library named after I.I. Gorbachevsky // Encyclopedia of Transbaikalia: Chita Region: Vol. 2: A–Z / ed. by R.F. Geniatulin. – Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2004. – P. 117. 

«At first, Gorbachevsky lived in a purchased or rented house. In the late 1850s - early 1860s, Ivan Ivanovich built his own house on Bolshaya Street. In 1951, Bolshaya street was renamed in his honor. The street-facing front half of the house consisted of a single room where the owner lived and worked. This room held his large library, ethnographic collection, and a piano. Here, I.I. Gorbachevsky gave lessons to the children of peasants and employees of the Petrovsky Plant. The back half of the house contained the kitchen. Over time, Gorbachevsky’s house was never reconstructed. It underwent only minor alterations during restoration in 1958. In 1976, a stele bearing a bust of the Decembrist was erected in Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky on Gorbachevskogo Street. In 1981, a memorial plaque was installed on his house. In 2011, the building was transferred to the city Museum of the Decembrists. Since 2018, the exhibition ‘Ivan Ivanovich Gorbachevsky in Settlement at the Petrovsky Plant’ has been operating in Gorbachevsky’s house. It presents his biography and public activity. The exhibition also displays mid-nineteenth-century household and interior items».

I.I. Gorbachevsky House-Museum // Historical Baggage. URL: https://историческийбагаж.рф/post/dom-muzey-i-i-gorbachevskogo-4217 (accessed October 5, 2025).

1. House of the Decembrist Ivan Ivanovich Gorbachevsky, in which he lived from 1864 to 1869 // Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Sites (EGROKN). URL: https://opendata.mkrf.ru/opendata/7705851331-egrkn/63/417046 (accessed: September 30, 2025). 

2. Kukulesku V.G. Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky City Library named after I.I. Gorbachevsky // Encyclopedia of Transbaikalia: Chita Region: Vol. 2: A–Z / ed. by R.F. Geniatulin. – Novosibirsk: Nauka, 2004. – P. 117.

3. I.I. Gorbachevsky House-Museum // Historical Baggage. URL: https://историческийбагаж.рф/post/dom-muzey-i-i-gorbachevskogo-4217 (accessed October 5, 2025).

4. This is a unique historical monument of the Decembrists in Petrovsk-Zabaikalsky. It preserves the authentic 19th-century setting. The museum tells about the life and activities of the Decembrist Ivan Gorbachevsky after his exile. I.I. Gorbachevsky House-Museum