Leisure activities of Transbaikalia citizens in the second half of the 19th - early 20th centuries

In the last third of 19 th century cities of Zabaikal region started their transition to the industrial stage of development, which led to the economic and cultural changes, to the process of differentiation of work and leisure, to the formation of leisure activities. Based on archive documents, memories of contemporaries, epistolary heritage of the citizens, the article describes forms of leisure activities of the middle and upper strata of the community as the most active driving force of social life, organizing cultural events for themselves, and for the urban poor. In the course of the article the author states that the experience of leisure organization and recreational facilities was exclusively independent activity of the urban community, leisure strategy developed from a private to public scale, and leisure field expanded from home to traditional public forms.