The Tsar Gates are a reconstruction of the triumphal arch built in 1891 to greet the future Tsar Nicholas II as he passed through Verkhneudinsk (the original name of Ulan-Ude) on his great eastern tour. The original gate was demolished by the Bolsheviks; the modern copy was put up in 2006.
The arch sits on Lenin Street near the city's pedestrianised section. It is a useful landmark and a small but striking reminder of how completely the Soviet period swept through this city — and how partially it has been replaced.