State Natural National Park "Saymaluu-Tash"

The Saymaluu Tash area translates from Kyrgyz as “painted stone”

The State Natural National Park “Saymaluu-Tash” was established in accordance with the resolution of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic dated May 25, 2001, “On the establishment of the State Natural National Park ‘Saymaluu-Tash’ in the Toguz-Toro district of the Jalal-Abad region, covering a total area of 32,050 hectares, including forest land - 3,394 hectares, of which forested land - 987 hectares and non-forested land - 28,604 hectares. It is located in the eastern part of the Jalal-Abad region, along the Kurart River.

The park zone belongs to the mountain system of the Western Tian Shan, covering the Fergana Range, which separates the Fergana Valley from the Inner Tian Shan. Its length is 225 km, with an elevation ranging from 1,500 to 4,692 meters above sea level. On the southwestern slopes of the Fergana Range, at elevations of 1,500-2,000 meters above sea level, lies the southern boundary of the nut-bearing forest belt, which is one of the unique natural objects of the Southwestern Tian Shan.

The park is divided into four zones: a reserve zone, a tourist-recreational zone, an environmental stabilization zone, and a limited economic activity zone.

The high-altitude areas of the zone are habitats for many red-listed species of animals and plants. The diverse wildlife of the park includes a total of 85 species of animals, including 9 species of mammals; 4 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 2 species of fish.

In the Saymaluu Tash area, there are numerous outcrops of basalt. This rock is strong and viscous. If a piece of basalt can be split, it results in flat, smooth blocks suitable for rock painting. It is likely that the ancestors were able to do this. Then, it was a matter of primitive technique, where the artist chipped away pieces of basalt point by point and transferred their impressions onto the stone.

The main cultural and historical value of the park is represented by the rock paintings of the Bronze Age - petroglyphs, as well as the unique natural complexes of the Kugart area. A unique historical monument - the rock gallery of drawings “Saymaluu-Tash” consists of tens of thousands of multi-figure compositions dating back to the 2nd-1st millennium BC, located on the southern slopes of the Fergana Range at an altitude of 3,200 meters. Saymaluu-Tash, translated from Kyrgyz, means patterned stone, embroidered stone. According to rough estimates, there are more than 10,000 stones with 100,000 images in the two areas. Functionally, this territory served as a sacred place - an open-air temple that operated from the second half of the 3rd millennium - the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC and continued until the Middle Ages.

The site is registered with the state and included in the State List of Historical and Cultural Monuments of the Kyrgyz Republic of national (republican) significance, approved by the Resolution of the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic in 2002, and since 2001, it has been on the Tentative List of the country for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The area is open for visits only one month a year (August). At other times, the massif is covered with snow.

Even in summer, precipitation in the form of snow, rain, and hail is not uncommon, and thick layers of never-melting snowfields lie in the hollows and valleys.

Saymaluu-Tash was opened to science in 1902 by military topographer N.G. Khlyudov during a topographic survey in the Kugart Pass area. In 1903, a special expedition was organized under the leadership of I.G. Poslavsky, a member of the Turkestan Circle of Archaeology Enthusiasts. After more than forty years, in 1946, scientific studies began under B.M. Zima, a lecturer at the Kyrgyz Pedagogical Institute in Frunze. The most significant and detailed studies were conducted in 1950 by A.N. Bernshteyn, a professor from Leningrad. He provided a more substantial characterization of the monument, unfortunately, in one, but exceptionally concise article “Rock Paintings of Saymaluu-Tash” in the journal “Soviet Ethnography,” No. 2, 1952, which has retained its significance to this day.

Saymaluu-Tash is a rare monument that particularly reflects the development of the spiritual culture of the population, religious beliefs, and worldview of the tribes of hunters and herders and early farmers who revered nature, solar-cosmic images, and worshipped their totems and deities. It is a kind of grand natural sanctuary, a place of worship and the performance of ritual ceremonies by the population of the Tian Shan and Pre-Fergana regions.

Saymaluu-Tash is particularly interesting and valuable because it clearly illustrates how human life and activities were closely linked to the surrounding natural environment and how this environment, in turn, influenced their worldview.