Siniy Utyos

Siniy Utyos (literally "Blue Cliff") is a geological nature monument on the right bank of the Tom River. It lies about 16 kilometers south of Tomsk, between the city itself, the Tomsk — Kolarovo road and the village of Kolarovo, in the Tomsky District of Tomsk Oblast. Locals also know the cliff under a darker name, "Devil's Finger". The protected area covers roughly 100 hectares.

Nature

The riverbank near the cliff rises to a height of about 80 meters. Of that, some 40 meters is exposed bedrock — the part of the outcrop of greatest geological interest — while at its highest points the cliff itself reaches 50 meters. The exposure is made of clay shales and silty-clay shales interbedded with siltstones of the Basandaika formation. Within the shale layers runs a dike of porphyritic dolerite about 2.5 meters thick, a trace of ancient magma intruding into rock that had already formed. The deposits themselves are dated to the Visean stage of the Carboniferous period. The outcrop preserves fossils of marine creatures from that era: shells of pelecypods and gastropods, brachiopods, crinoid segments and orthoceratids.

History

A watchtower was built on the cliff almost four centuries ago, soon after the founding of Tomsk: from its top, sentries signaled to the watchmen of Lagerny Garden further down the Tom River. Nearby stood an embassy house where foreign and Siberian merchants and envoys visiting the Tomsk fort were received.

Legends

According to one legend, Siniy Utyos is a petrified giant who once robbed and terrorized the local people until a good bogatyr (folk hero) defeated him. Locals link this tale to the cliff's folk name, "Devil's Finger", which is still used more often than the official one.

Getting there

Siniy Utyos can be reached by car along the Tomsk — Kolarovo road, or by regular bus No. 141/2 to the "Siniy Utyos-1" stop. A sanatorium of the same name now operates within the nature monument's grounds, so part of the cliff lies inside its territory.