Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyzstan is a country located in the foothills of the Tien Shan, and its main pearl is the beautiful Issyk-Kul Lake, along the banks of which there are many natural attractions: colorful gorges, waterfalls, thermal springs, bird nests and much more. There are also historical sights here: ancient petroglyphs and ruins of medieval cities, interesting museums and temples.
Top 10 attractions of Kyrgyzstan
Patterned stones of Saimaly-Tash
Not far from the city of Jalal-Abad, high in the Saymaly-Tash tract, there is a huge collection of petroglyphs dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. - I millennium AD and listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These pictures are one of the symbols of Kyrgyzstan.
The very name “Saimaly Tash” is translated as “patterned stones”. Three groups of rock paintings have been preserved here, there are about ten thousand of them in total. They were knocked out on the basalt surfaces with some kind of metal tools. It is surprising that the earliest drawings, III millennium BC. NS. - the most interesting and detailed ones. The later the images, the coarser and simpler they are.
This place was discovered in 1902, and was studied in detail at the end of the 20th century. Scientists interpret some of the drawings as an agricultural calendar, some as symbols that speak of sun worship, but, unfortunately, they have not yet been fully deciphered.
This place is in the mountains, most of the time the tract is covered with snow, so you can see it only in the summer, and you will have to get there on foot or by horse - the tract is inaccessible for cars.
Issyk-Kul lake
Issyk-Kul is the largest and most famous lake in Kyrgyzstan. Its name translates as "hot lake" - it does not freeze in winter, and the water in it is salty. Its shores are amazingly beautiful, but deserted, but there are many fish living in the lake, including endemic species. Fishing is excellent here: pike perch, bream, carp, trout and much more are found. On the western shore of the lake there is the Bokonbaevsky plant, which is engaged in the reproduction of valuable fish species.
Issyk-Kul Lake is the main tourist attraction in Kyrgyzstan. An extensive infrastructure has been created along its banks: beaches, hotels, camp sites, equipment rental points, etc. There are even several diving centers. The main beach holiday destination is the Cholpon Ata village on the northern coast. To the southeast of the lake is the Issyk-Kul Nature Reserve, it was created back in 1948. More than 200 species of birds and about 40 species of mammals live here. Huge flocks of swans, red-nosed divers and coots winter on the lake, pheasants and partridges nest on the shores of the lake in thickets of sea buckthorn and barberry.
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Cultural center "Rukh Ordo" them. Ch. Aitmatova is a unique place in the village of Cholpon Ata, one of the main attractions in the vicinity of Issyk-Kul. The center is located on the very shore of the lake - the organizers of the museum claim that they have the most beautiful pier and the view from it.
Rukh Ordo is intended to emphasize the unity and equality of all peoples and religions. There are five completely identical chapels here: Orthodox, Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist and Judaist. But besides the chapels, there are as many as 10 museums, the most interesting of which are devoted to traditional Kyrgyz culture (one of them is the museum of Kyrgyz hats), and to the writer Chingiz Aitmatov. There are many individual art objects and sculptures on the territory, in addition, interesting events are constantly held here: concerts, exhibitions, conferences, performances and sports competitions.
Sulayman-Too sacred mountain
The sacred mountain of the Kyrgyz Sulaiman-Too is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The huge (about a kilometer in length) five-domed limestone mountain has long been revered as a holy place.
The name translates as "Solomon's bed" or "Solomon's throne". Perhaps it is associated with the name of the 15th century Sultan Suleiman Mazi, but now it is symbolically associated with King Solomon himself. On one of the peaks there is a mosque in which the legendary king, according to legend, prayed. In fact, it was built in the 16th century (although it is possible that on the site of a previously existing one), it was destroyed in Soviet times and is now restored.
At the foot of the mountain there is another restored 16th century mosque, as well as the mausoleum of Asaf ibn Burhiya, the legendary vizier of King Solomon. The building of the mausoleum dates back to around the 18th century, but there are already references to the grave of the revered saint near the mountain in the sources of the 13th century. In addition, there are several caves on the mountain, the largest of which houses a museum dedicated to this place.
Museum and grave of Przewalski in Karakol
Not far from the city of Karakol, the famous Russian traveler and explorer of Central Asia Nikolai Przhevalsky is buried. He made 4 large trips to Mongolia, Tibet and China, wrote many scientific works, collected a huge amount of material about the animal and plant world (everyone knows the Przewalski horse that he discovered).
During the fifth trip, just across Kyrgyzstan, he contracted typhus and died, and was buried on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul. Near his grave in 1893, a monument was erected - a granite block crowned with an eagle. The monument offers a beautiful view of the lake and mountains, and not far from it, an Orthodox chapel has been restored.
In 1957, a memorial museum of the great traveler was opened here. The museum is small, with only 2,000 exhibits, but it is worth visiting.
Jety-Oguz gorge
To the south of Lake Issyk-Kul is the resort village of Dzhety-Oguz, in the vicinity of which there are several tourist sites at once. First of all, this is the gorge of the Dzhety-Oguz river and the "Seven Oxen" peaks.
The gorge is amazingly beautiful: it is made up of rocks made of red sandstone, overgrown with bright green forest. One of the famous rocks is called "Broken Heart", Zharylgan zhurek. She really resembles a broken heart, and a romantic legend is associated with her: two horsemen fought for the girl's heart and she liked both, and when they got into a duel and both died, her heart was broken, and she turned into this rock. And the resort itself is located around the healing radon springs: there is a swimming pool and a pump room in order to collect water for drinking.
Barskoon gorge and waterfalls
The gorge of the Barskaun River is almost 10 kilometers long. It is very picturesque in itself, but its peculiarity is that the river forms several waterfalls. There are four of them: Splashes of champagne, Chalice of Manas, Beard of aksakal and Tears of a leopard. The latter is the highest and most famous waterfall in Kyrgyzstan, its height is over 100 meters.
In addition, these places are famous for the fact that gold is mined here: both the Barskaun River itself and the tributaries flowing into it are gold-bearing. The Kumtor gold mine is located not far from the gorge. In the clearing at the entrance to the gorge, where tourists usually camp, there is a monument to Yuri Gagarin, who loved to rest here, and a monument to Tagai-Biu, the legendary ruler who once united the Kyrgyz tribes in the 16th century.
Resurrection Cathedral in Bishkek
The Orthodox Cathedral in Bishkek is not very large, but with a completely unique history. It was created already in Soviet times, in 1943, when no new churches were usually built at all, at most they could open some old one. It so happened that by this time all the Orthodox churches that existed in Bishkek and the surrounding area had already been demolished. And in 1943, the believers in Bishkek asked to provide them with premises for worship. They were given the unfinished building of the Kirprom Council. It was completed according to the project of the architect V. V. Veryuzhsky. The decoration of the temple contains classical Kyrgyz ornaments. Everything that has been preserved from the decoration of the blown up and closed churches of Bishkek was collected in the temple, so there are old icons in it. At the beginning of the 20th century, the temple was repaired and re-painted by the artist Evgenia Postavnicheva, and now it is the cathedral of the Bishkek diocese.
Valley of Fairy Tales, or Skazka Gorge
One of the most beautiful gorges in the foothills of the Tien Shan is formed by reddish-brown sandstone that once formed on the seabed. This is beautiful in itself, but here the winds have been working for centuries, so the rocks took on the most varied and bizarre shapes. The gorge is especially beautiful at dusk and dawn.
This place became a tourist attraction in the middle of the 20th century, they even call the name of the first taxi driver who guessed to take tourists here - Ivan Radionov. So there are no ancient legends here, and all the associations that the mountains evoke are modern, mainly from movies and cartoons. But already in our time, anomalous phenomena and places of power are periodically looked for here, especially since there are abandoned uranium mines of the Soviet era nearby.
Buranino settlement and minaret
Once here, 12 km from the city of Tokmak, was the capital of the Karakhinid Kaganate - a vast state that occupied these territories from the 9th to the 13th century. Then the city was called Balasagun. The remains of the fortress walls, water pipes, houses have been preserved here; during the excavations, many household items and utensils were found. The city is considered the birthplace of the famous Turkic poet Yusuf Balasaguni. Balasagun ceased to exist already in the XIV century: at first it was ravaged during civil strife, then without a fight was captured by Genghis Khan, and then finished off by the plague of the XIV century.
The most notable building here is the Burana Tower, a minaret that dates back to the X-XII centuries. This is a round tower 21 meters high on an octahedral base, it looks beautiful and monumental. It is assumed that earlier it was much higher, but the upper part has not been preserved. At the foot of the tower there is a whole "rock garden": old stones with drawings, millstones, architectural details collected during excavations, stone women and much more are collected here.
