Issyk-Kul Lake has attracted romantics and treasure hunters for many years. According to some sources, there may be up to 200 treasures at the bottom of the lake. Additionally, there are many legends about cities that sank in Issyk-Kul and about the true burial site of Genghis Khan in the waters of this amazing lake.
One of the largest lakes in the world, Issyk-Kul, fed by more than 50 rivers, is located in the Northern Tien Shan at an altitude of 1,609 m. Its area is 6,236 sq. km, with a length of 182 km, a width of up to 60 km, and a depth of up to 700 m. Surrounded by mountain ranges, the lake is protected from the breath of cold and hot desert winds. Therefore, there is no exhausting heat or severe frosts here, and the water in the lake does not freeze even in winter.
SYMBOL OF LOVE AND LOYALTY
Many legends have been created about how the lake was formed, but the most beautiful one is about a girl who gave her life for love. Once, where Issyk-Kul now lies, there was a city, and above it stood the castle of a powerful and cruel khan. The khan learned that a poor nomad had a daughter of extraordinary beauty and decided to take her for himself. But the beauty's heart already belonged to another. Who this young man was, the girl did not know.
She only remembered that one early morning, a handsome young man appeared before her on a white horse. They raced together into the unattainable heights; he embraced her, kissed her, then took off his ring and, putting it on her finger, said: “I will return soon. Never take off the ring. As long as it is with you, no misfortune will touch you.” When messengers came to her with gifts and a proposal to marry the khan, the girl indignantly refused and went into the mountains, hoping to meet her beloved again. But soon she noticed that the ring had disappeared from her finger.
Returning home, she was immediately captured by the khan's servants. The cruel ruler wanted to take the girl by force, but she jumped from the window into the abyss below. At that moment, the gloomy castle of the old khan collapsed, and water poured from all the gorges. It rose and rose until it flooded the vast valley. Thus, this wonderful Issyk Lake was formed.
SECRETS BENEATH THE WATER
In 1218, a 25,000-strong Mongolian army approached these lands. Wealthy people and monks from a Christian monastery equipped a caravan of 200 camels, loaded it with gold, silver, and other valuables, and set off along the shores of Issyk-Kul towards Kashgar. However, the Mongols caught up with the fugitives, trapped on both sides by cavalry, with mountains on the left and the lake on the right, and the Christians began to look for a place to hide their treasures.
They buried part of their wealth in the coastal waters and the other part in a cave where a mountain river flowed in. After diverting the water, they covered the treasures with stone slabs, marking one of them with a cross, then let the river flow back into its bed. Thus, the treasure ended up underwater.
After the 1917 revolution, a Russian Orthodox priest, who had been defrocked, appeared in the Tien Shan mountains with a map marking the treasure's location. He claimed that the valuables belonged to his ancestors—Nestorian Christians who were fleeing from the Mongol invasion. However, no one can confirm the legend about the priest, but it is documented that in the 1920s, treasure seekers came here with the same map and even with permission for excavations. It is also recorded that they managed to find a golden hammer, which they handed over to the local branch of "Zolotosnab." But then the treasure hunters were prohibited from digging.
The question of the treasures hidden in the cave was raised again in the 1950s by General Aliyev, and it seems that a special department for treasure hunting was even created within the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR. Later, the famous treasure hunter I. Streletskiy hypothesized that the fleeing Nestorians were carrying the personal treasury of Ivan the Terrible. However, the waters of Issyk-Kul still keep their secret.
THE LAST RESTING PLACE OF GENGHIS KHAN
There is a version that Genghis Khan's sons, after his death in 1227, merely pretended to bury their father in Ordos, while the body of the deceased ruler, along with his immense wealth, was buried in a secret place. Archaeologists and treasure hunters have searched for this grave everywhere: in Mongolia, China, Kazakhstan!
But the old Kyrgyz people are convinced that the grave of the great conqueror is hidden beneath the waters of Issyk-Kul. Chagatai, the son of the great khan, placed his body in a coffin made of juniper (a wood that does not absorb moisture), along with all his father's treasures. All of this was secretly transported to a secluded cave, sealed, and flooded with diverted waters. Almost all participants in the burial were exterminated to keep the secret.
RELICS OF SAINT MATTHEW
In the Catalan Atlas published in 1375, there is a map depicting Issyk-Kul and a monastery located near the lake. The creators of the atlas claim that in the monastery by Lake Issyk-Kul rests the relics of Saint Matthew, the apostle and evangelist, in a silver reliquary. However, the Spanish do not disclose the source of this information.
It is known, however, that after the ascension of Jesus, his disciple Matthew went to Ethiopia, bringing Christianity there. According to tradition, the body of Matthew, who passed away on African soil, was placed in a silver reliquary and somehow transported to a mysterious Armenian monastery on Issyk-Kul.
In 1850, the Russian geographer Pyotr Semenov undertook the search for the artifact, conducting annual expeditions to the Tien Shan. It is said that he was an adherent of some occult teaching. Whether he found the reliquary with the relics or it still lies with the monastery at the bottom of the lake remains unknown.
SUNKEN CIVILIZATION
In the painting "Russian City of Kitezh" by the famous artist Ilya Glazunov, a city is depicted at the bottom of Issyk-Kul. The plot of the canvas is taken from a book by the district chief of Przhevalsk, in which the author provides evidence that it was in the area of the lake that Kitezh once existed, submerged as a result of an unprecedented catastrophe. The waters of Issyk-Kul are so clear on sunny days that one can see the outlines of urban buildings and walls at the bottom of the lake.
But Kitezh is not the only city that has sunk in the lake. Archaeologists have managed to discover at least 10 ancient cities and monasteries hidden beneath the waters of Issyk-Kul. For example, there is the ancient capital of the Scythians-Usuns, Chigu. Traces of eroded burial mounds, where Scythians were buried, have been found, as well as many well-preserved gold and bronze artifacts from the Scythian period:
“We were fortunate to discover a workshop for processing ore, remnants of bronze production, various castings, a whole pyramid of ore separators, as well as a golden round truncated pin weighing 70 grams,” says the head of the underwater expedition, Nikolai Lukashov. Lukashov's expeditions also managed to find remnants of a civilization at the bottom of the lake, dating back to the 2nd millennium BC.
Why were ancient cities buried beneath the waters of Issyk-Kul? Most likely, it is due to the unique hydrological regime of the lake: as a result of tectonic processes, the water level in the lake fluctuates, flooding coastal lands. When the water receded, people rebuilt their cities here, which after a while again ended up underwater.
MONSTERS OF ISSYK-KUL
Trout in the museum at the yacht club in Cholpon-Ata. Kyrgyzstan, Issyk-Kul Region, city of Cholpon-Ata
In the 1930s, ichthyologists introduced several species of fish into Issyk-Kul, most of which perished. Only a few survived, including trout from Lake Sevan. What happened next remains unclear: the fish mutated and turned into a toothy aggressive monster, reportedly reaching sizes of up to 2 meters.
In 1972, when military divers were training in Issyk-Kul, three-meter humanoid creatures were spotted in the lake, living in the icy water. The amphibians clearly had a very low body temperature; otherwise, they would not have survived in the mountain lake. However, information about these encounters soon fell under the classification of "top secret."
Issyk-Kul is a special lake; locals have considered it enchanted since ancient times. Perhaps that is why, before the arrival of Russian settlers in the late 19th century, almost no one swam or fished in it.
