Shidkhan

Chitkan lies on the river of the same name in the Barguzin valley east of Lake Baikal. The Chitkan joins a channel of the Barguzin, whose waters flow southwest through the basin to the lake. Mountains rise on either side of the valley, enclosing forest, pasture and river flats. In 1828 a local peasant petitioned to build a stone church at Chitkan, where farming households formed part of the wider Barguzin parish.