Village Khor-Tagna

The village of Khor-Tagna, Zalarinsky District, Irkutsk Region. Khor-Tagna, a protected area for Siberian Old Believers, is not easy to find on a map. This village is the last settlement
before the Sayan Mountains: they are only 40 km away. The village is surrounded by centuries-old taiga on all sides. Tourists who reach it have a good reason to feel as if they have overcome not only distance but also time. But Khor-Tagna cannot be called a godforsaken village. Rather, it is a guardian of the Siberian spirit and a centuries-old era.
The village was founded in 1892, but Buryats lived there as early as the late 14th century. Khor-Tagna has several sites where they built their dwellings. The village gets its name from two rivers: the Tagna and the Khorka, which join within the village. Tagna draws its waters from the swamps; it is calm and deep, while Khorka ("khora," "khara" - "sacred," "black" in Buryat) draws its waters from clear mountain springs. The village stretches 5 km from west to east and is 85 km from the district center, Zalarei. Russian settlers began settling in Khor-Tagna in the late 18th century. The greatest contribution to the development of the territory was made by peasants – Stolypin's settlers. They resettled as individual families or small groups of several families. Exile also played a certain role in the settlement of Khor-Tagna. Exiled convicts, who had served their sentences and were released to resettlement, began settling in the early 20th century. There were no houses as such. At first, people built temporary log cabins as quickly as possible. The settlers were forced to clear large areas for arable land, literally reclaiming every dessiatine from the taiga. Local power was vested in the elder and the clerk. Residents were divided by religion into Old Believers and Orthodox. Construction of the Orthodox Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in Khor-Tagna began in 1912 and was completed by 1915. The Old Believers built a prayer house at their own expense.
The village retains the distinctive spirit of the Russian hinterland. Here you can encounter a woman carrying water on a yoke or washing rugs on the riverbank, a man hauling a load of firewood or hay on a sleigh, and more.

Sights:
Villages:
1. Local History Room "Origins" of the Village
2. Hospital Building (1911)
3. Suspension Bridges over the Khorka River – "Bridge of Health" and "Bridge of Wishes" (100 m) 4. Suspension Bridge over the Tagna River "Bridge of Love" (147 m)
5. Monument to Those Who Fallen in the Great Patriotic War
6. "At the Elder's" Spring
7. "Quiet Corner" Spring
8. Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (1915)
9. Priest's House (1914)
10. Obelisk to the Fallen in the Civil War
11. "Expelling" Fountain
12. Two-Story Wooden School (1959)

Within a 50 km radius:
1. Tagninsky Hospital, Tagna village (30 km)
2. Golendri Settlements: Pikhtinsky, Srednepikhtinsky, and Dagnik (10 km)
3. "Babtsin Kut" Rest Area, Pikhtinsky Section (10 km)
4. Narrow-Gauge Railway, Cheremshanka village (38 km)
5. Blue Clay Lake, Kamenka village (15 km)
6. Mountain River Oka
7. Eastern Sayan Foothills (35 km)
8. Tayozhny Recreation Area
9. Rus' Hunting and Commercial Farm
10. Yashkina Gora Hiking Trail

Food, Gastronomy, and Landscaping.
Khutorok Café (35 seats), Khor-Tagna village, Lespromkhozovskaya St., 7A,
tel. 8950065963
The café accepts special orders and organizes banquets, birthdays, and corporate events.

Gifts of Nature:
- Pine nuts
- Berries (cranberries, lingonberries, red currants, blueberries, strawberries, currants)
- Mushrooms (milk mushrooms, saffron milk caps, honey mushrooms, porcini mushrooms) - Wild garlic
- Ferns
- Wild game and poultry
- Fish (grayling, pike, burbot)
- Forest honey
- Medicinal herbs (tansy, coltsfoot, chamomile, currants, plantain, St. John's wort, oregano, clover, wormwood, yarrow, etc.)
- Herbal teas (Ivan tea, Kuril tea, mint, etc.)
- Old Believer dishes: gulbishniki, krupenya, frozen cheesecakes, struganina

Accommodation
1. Two guest houses "At Natalya's" (14 beds) (sauna, meals, excursions available upon request)
2. Guest house "At Golendrov's" (6 beds) (sauna, meals, excursions available upon request, rituals)

Khor Tagna is famous for its hunting, fishing, and berry picking. We can also organize hunting and fishing trips upon request, allowing you to combine an active holiday with comfortable accommodations and meals, guaranteeing satisfaction and pleasure from both your vacation and your harvest!
- Boat ride on the river

Natalya Aleksandrovna Usoltseva.
Phone: +7 950 097 3976.
https://zalaritur.ru/ - link to tour description

How to get there
• By car. Irkutsk, 290 km.
• Intercity bus from Irkutsk to Khor-Tagna (300 km), with stops in Angarsk, Usolye-Sibirskoye, Kutulik, Zalari, and Kho-Tagna. (To Khor-Tagna - Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday; to Irkutsk - Thursday, Saturday, and Monday). The route map is available at: https://avtovokzal-on-line.ru/map/geo?id=38
• Minibus from Zalari to Khor-Tagna (Monday and Thursday).

Events Calendar
Winter Festival "Khor-Tagna Fun" - January 4
Christmas Carols - January 6
Maslenitsa, Ivan Kupala - July 6
Village Day - June 25
District "Festival of Fishermen, Hunters, and Travelers" - August 18

Useful Links and Information
http://www.hor-tagna.ru/ Village Website
https://ok.ru/group/58532847419590 covers the work of the Leisure Center.
http://hortagna.ru/ - Official website of the Khor-Tagna Secondary School.
http://elochkads.my1.ru/ - Official website of the "Yolochka" Kindergarten
https://ok.ru/group/51767061905606 - OK group "History of Khor-Tagna" https://cpd-hor-tagna.nubex.ru/ - official website of the Children's Aid Center.
http://khortagckd.irk.muzkult.ru/ - official website of the "Khor-Tagninsky Center for Cultural, Leisure, and Information Activities"

Mobile communications - Tele 2

The village has:
- FAP (paramedic and nurse)
- post office (Russian Post);
- Khor-Tagninsky MO administration;
- secondary school (170);
- leisure center (hosts public events, runs clubs for various activities and ages);
- children's aid center (provides social support for children and public services);
- "Yolochka" kindergarten (2 groups for 40 children);
- sports and fitness center;
- multifunctional sports ground;
- fire station (1 fire engine);
- Bakery, bakery with a Russian oven;
- Children's playground (modern facilities – swings, carousel, slide, throwing board, benches, sandbox, gazebo, trampoline, ping-pong table);
- Khor-Tagna village history and local history room;
- Meat processing plant (production of semi-finished meat products);
- Guesthouse for tourists (for 12 people);
- 4 shops.

Souvenirs at the "Raduga" shop.
Magnets with village views, stones and boards, oil, birch bark products, wicker baskets.

Souvenir shop in the history and local history room
Amulet dolls, home amulets, amulets for all occasions.