Resurrection Hill (Voskreskenskaya Gora) is where Tomsk began. In 1604 Cossack troops built a wooden fortress here on a bluff above the Tom River, and the city grew outward from this point over the following centuries. Today the hill is crowned by the Resurrection Church and offers the best panoramic views in the city — looking out over the river bend, the old wooden houses below, and the endless Siberian taiga stretching to the horizon.
The Church of the Resurrection (Voskreskenskaya tserkov) on the hill is one of Tomsk's older surviving religious buildings, a whitewashed baroque structure rebuilt in stone in the 19th century. The interior is worth a look if it is open. Below the hill, the riverside embankment is pleasant for walking, especially in summer when the birch trees along the bank are in leaf.
The hill is a short walk from the city centre and easily combined with a tour of the wooden architecture district immediately below it. Evening is a particularly good time to come up — the view over the Tom is excellent at dusk.