The Ural Mountains are the oldest on the planet. The local peaks and caves keep the secrets of thousands of years ago. And if many people know about the Arkaim settlement, then only the local residents know about the Kesen Mausoleum, located in the same place, in the Southern Urals. We have selected several unique and interesting places along the Ural Range. Isn't there a reason to spend your summer vacation actively exploring the Russian outback and getting to know the ancient monuments?
Big Iremel (Bashkortostan)
The second largest mountain in the South Urals (1582 meters), located on the border with the Chelyabinsk region, has attracted people since ancient times. Everything is extraordinary here: from vegetation to the shape of the summit. The alpine plateau is surrounded by fir forests and meadows overgrown with fireweed, century-old spruces and larch trees, and the Ural grasses of the highlands. The mountain owes its name to the external resemblance to the saddle: according to the most popular version, Bolshoi Iremel comes from the Bashkir and Mongolian words "ir" - "bogatyr" and "emel" - "saddle".
The slopes of the "Bogatyr's Saddle" are covered with huge boulders - kurums; it will not be easy for an inexperienced traveler to overcome them. On the slopes, even in the hot summer season, you can find non-melting glaciers. It is here that the sources of the Belaya River originate.
Since ancient times, the peak was considered the abode of the gods and until the end of the 19th century it was almost inaccessible to mere mortals. This was the unwritten law of these places. There were many legends about Iremel: they said that in the bowels of the mountain untold treasures were kept, legends about the Bigfoot living here were often met. And today the mountain is of great interest not only among tourists, but also among esotericists. Iremel is compared to the peaks of Tibet and Altai. On Iremel, many seek to make cherished wishes. They say they come true.
Meanwhile, even without these tales, Bolshoi Iremel is a unique place, fraught with many mysteries. So, scientists are interested in spruce forests at an altitude of 700-1000 meters. It is believed that these trees are relics of the primary dark coniferous forests that survived the worldwide glaciation. 57 plant species found in this area are listed in the Red Book, and 13 species are endemic, that is, they grow only here and nowhere else on the planet.
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Routes to Bolshoi Iremel are marked, so it is difficult to get lost here. In order to climb the mountains to your heart's content, enjoy the beautiful views, it is recommended to go here for a few days: in the village of Tyulyuk, from which the path to Iremel begins, there are several camp sites and recreation centers, special paid places for tents, so there should be no problems with accommodation. From Tyulyuk to Iremel itself - about 13-15 kilometers. Hiking trips to the Bogatyr's Saddle are possible from May to October.
Kapova Cave (Bashkortostan)
The state natural reserve "Shulgan-Tash" is located in the western foothills of the mountain forest region of the Southern Urals. The word "tash" in Bashkir means "stone", and "Shulgan" is directly related to Bashkir beliefs: in the folk epic "Ural-Batyr" Shulgen is the brother of the protagonist, one of the sons of the ancient gods.
Kapova Cave, located on the territory of the reserve, is the most famous in the Urals and one of the largest karst caves. It contains 3 kilometers of passages with halls, galleries and inland lakes. But this is not the main thing in it - its attraction is the rock paintings of the primitive man of the Paleolithic era. Kapova Cave is considered to be the origin of art in Eastern Europe.
The discoverer of Paleolithic painting Shulgan-Tasha was the zoologist Alexander Ryumin. Before him, such ancient drawings were found only in the caves of Spain and France, but Ryumin suggested, and not without reason, that the ancient Paleolithic culture should have developed in several regions, and not only in Western Europe. He considered the most promising South Urals, where in 1959 he found confirmation of his theory.
The find became a true sensation in the scientific world! Radiocarbon analysis showed that the age of the images is 14-17 thousand years. At present, scientists have described about 200 drawings of the Kapova Cave. They are made mainly with ocher, a natural pigment based on animal fat, but there are also images made with charcoal. Along with animals, there are many images of anthropomorphic and geometric figures, the meaning and meaning of which still baffle scientists.
There are several versions about the origin of the name of the cave. According to one - it came from a drop characteristic of the cave from the ceiling, on the other - from the word "temple" (the space of a pagan temple located behind the altar). The second version is supported by the fact that several skulls were found in the cave - apparently the ancient inhabitants of these places honored the memory of the outstanding members of the tribe, shamans. For the greater safety of the drawings, tourists are not allowed to visit them. Those wishing to see the rock paintings will have to be content with copies of the drawings in the entrance grotto.
The entrance to the cave is impressive - a huge arch 20 meters high and 40 meters wide. To her left is the Blue Lake. Water comes here through the karst channels of the Underground Shulgan. Millions of years ago, this stream, eroding the limestone massif, created the cave itself. The lake is small - about three meters in diameter, but deep - over 80 meters. With the permission of the administration of the reserve, you can go diving here.
If you go to the reserve from Ufa, the road leads to Sterlitamak, and then to Beloretsk. Approximately 380 kilometers and - here it is, Shulgan-Tash. You can spend the night on the territory of the reserve in guest houses.
Deer Brooks (Sverdlovsk Region)
This is the most popular natural park in the Sverdlovsk region. More than 50 thousand people visit it a year. Despite the fact that the park is a place traveled far and wide by tourists, lovers of the paranormal continue to record inexplicable phenomena here. Some, during their night stops in the park, encounter mysterious invisible creatures, others find in the pictures taken in local caves, the outlines of animals and objects that should not be there.
In fact, the main thing in the park is the extraordinary richness of the landscape: there are amazingly beautiful Ural forests, rocks, caves, and rivers with lakes. For example, the Hole Stone (aka Drinking Horse) is one of the most famous rocks in Deer Creek. There is a cave in the rock about 10 meters long. Archaeologists have repeatedly carried out excavations here: several cultural layers were found in the grotto, the oldest of which is 14 thousand years old.
The local Friendship Cave was described back in 1886, it was named after the inscription at the entrance. Druzhba is one of the largest caves in the Sverdlovsk region. The total length of all its passages is about 500 meters. Not far from the cave is the Great Gap, which was formed as a result of the collapse of the arch of a huge cave. Below, at a depth of more than 30 meters, ice lays all summer.
There is also a man-made attraction in the park: on the banks of the Serga River, near a rock called the Drowned Man, there is a sculpture of an Angel made by Swedish artist Lena Edvall. During his short life (the sculpture was installed in 2005), the Angel managed to gain fame among tourists as a wish-fulfilling agent.
In general, it is customary to go to Ruchi in one day, but you can also spend the night here: for example, at the Bazhukovo station, where the park administration is located. In the park, you can order an excursion along one of the routes, which differ in length. For the shortest, by the way, you can safely take small children with you.
Ural dolmens (Southern and Middle Urals)
These structures characteristic of Europe - structures that resemble a table made of large stones - are, oddly enough, not uncommon for the Ural region. Here, according to various sources, from 150 to 200 dolmens have been found and studied. Dolmens are relatives of Stonehenge, the Egyptian pyramids, stone structures of Malta and Easter Island. The name dolmen is translated from Breton - “stone table”.
It is believed that dolmens are ancient burial and cult structures. For the first time the Ural Dolmens were seen in 1958 in the area of Verkhnyaya Pyshma, near Yekaterinburg: they were described by the local hunter and ethnographer Anatoly Bodrykh. In 2004, he wrote in the magazine "Ural Pathfinder" about his discoveries: "The first hunting trail in these lands (25 kilometers from Verkhnyaya Pyshma - ed.) I paved in the fall of 1958, and it brought me to the first archaeological monument - a stone structure U-shaped section.
The masonry was clearly man-made. The idea of the involvement of the finds in religious buildings first occurred to me when I discovered the third and fourth masonry. In 1973, I turned to the Institute of History and Archeology in the hope of arousing the interest of archaeologists in the finds, but my appeal was ignored. And in 2000 I trusted Vladislav Grigorievich Nepomniachtchi, a local historian from the Urals. And our joint searches began….”.
An active discussion of the Ural dolmens and their purpose began in the early 2000s. The fact that these structures are exactly dolmens was confirmed by scientists at a congress of archaeologists held in 2006 in Portugal.
The Ural dolmens are from 2.5 to 5 thousand years old. The structures are rectangular or trapezoidal. All of them are oriented to the cardinal points, with their open side facing, as a rule, to the west. The vertical walls are either vertical or V-shaped. The top plate can be in one piece or in several parts.
You can see dolmens with your own eyes in the vicinity of Verkhnyaya Pyshma, at the source of the Iset River in the Sverdlovsk Region, on Vera Island on Lake Turgoyak in the Chelyabinsk Region, on Lake Lebyazhye in the same region.
By the way, in addition to the Urals, dolmens on the territory of Russia are also found in large numbers in the North Caucasus - more than 2 thousand of them have already been found here.
Kesene mausoleum (Chelyabinsk region)
The so-called "Tower of Tamerlane", as established by scientists, was built in the XIV century. This historical monument of early Muslim memorial architecture is the only attraction of its kind in the Chelyabinsk region.
The mausoleum is located on the promontory of the dried-up lake Big Kesene. According to legend, at the bottom of this reservoir, the daughter of the commander Tamerlane and her lover, whose father did not give his consent, ended their days. Heartbroken Tamerlane ordered to build a tower at the site of his daughter's death, which was later named after him. Later, scientists proved that Timur's troops were not in these places - they passed to the south.
And the scientist Pyotr Rychkov (“Ural Lomonosov”, as his colleagues called him), the first to describe the mausoleum, put forward a version of some unknown civilization that existed in the South Urals and left several brick structures of the same type after leaving for China. He admitted that the mausoleum in the vicinity of Varna was erected over the grave of the "holy king" of this people.
Scientific research of Tamerlane's Tower began in 1889. Geography professor Eduard Petri dug up the crypt and discovered a female body buried in it. It was covered with a silk cloth. In the burial they found gold rings with arabesques and earrings in the form of a question mark. These decorations were common among wealthy nomads who lived in these places since the 14th century. Burial structures similar to the Kesen mausoleum are known in Bashkiria, Turkmenistan, and the North Caucasus.
In the area of the mausoleum, by the way, several burials of the Bronze Age and the late Middle Ages were found, about 700 ordinary graves. It is possible that this area has been used as a cemetery since ancient times.
In terms of its architectural forms, the Kesene Mausoleum is considered one of the unique works of Kazakh art of past centuries. In the late 1960s, the monument, destroyed beyond recognition, was taken under state protection. In the early 1980s, the Kesene mausoleum was restored, the old bricks were overlaid with new ones. At the same time, the appearance of the memorial structure was reproduced from old photographs and memories of indigenous people.
Tamerlane's Tower is located three kilometers southeast of the village of Varna (217 kilometers from Chelyabinsk). After visiting the Tamerlane Tower, you can stay overnight in the village itself, there is a hotel there.
Sikiyaz-Tamak cave complex (Chelyabinsk region)
In the west of the Chelyabinsk region, 25 kilometers from Satka, the bend of the Ai river forms a huge meadow, framed by forest and spurs of the Tuy-Tyube ridge. Hundreds of thousands of years ago there was a plain, under which hard rocks were hidden. One centimeter a year, layer by layer, the water carried away the pliable soil. Centuries later, the land receded, revealing cliffs. Labyrinths of passages and caves have formed in solid rocks. Here was the only ancient settlement on the territory of Russia in a compact group of caves of natural origin.
At a height of seventy meters, more than 40 caves, grottoes, awnings and arches are compactly located on one terrace. Cavers jokingly call it a Paleolithic apartment block and claim that the caves are still suitable for life today.
Every year archaeological expeditions working in Sikiyaz-Tamak make new finds. More than 6 thousand fragments of ceramics have already been collected (this is the largest collection in the Urals), traces of metalworking, fragments of medieval wooden products have been found. Sikiyaz-Tamak is also a cemetery of ancient animals. Cave hyena, woolly rhinoceros, mammoth, primitive horse and bison were found here 10 thousand years ago. Their bones were found in the depths of rocky passages. So, in the far hall of the Sysoeva cave (another name is Sikiyaz-Tamakskaya), archaeologists discovered an underground sanctuary with skulls of cave bears.
You can get to the complex from the Laklov side: a good dirt road leads to the village of Sikiyaz-Tamak. But you will have to wade the Ai River, the depth of the fords near the village is 50-80 centimeters, or cross by boat. You can also enter from the side of Mezhevoy: here the forest road descends into a clearing opposite the Sikiyaz-Tamak village. Or you can raft down the Ai River and enjoy truly fabulous views of the surroundings.
Glyadenovskaya Gora (Perm Territory)
Glyadenovskaya mountain, which is located on the left bank of the Lower Mulyanka river, fully justifies its name: from here, from the top, a picturesque view of the Kama valley opens. From the side of the Bolshoye Savino airport, the mountain is gentle, but on the opposite side it is almost sheer, with numerous rock outcrops, springs and grottoes.
The village of Glyadenovo, located on the mountain, gave its name to the archaeological culture of the Early Iron Age of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. e. These places are the largest archaeological site of this era in Eurasia, both in terms of area and the number of finds.
The famous Permian mining engineer and archaeologist Nikolai Novokreschennykh was the first explorer of the mountain. In 1896, he discovered here an ancient sanctuary more than 2 thousand years old - a sacrificial site surrounded by three ramparts. One and a half meters of the cultural layer turned out to be incredibly rich in the bones of sacrificial animals - bears, elks and others. The archaeological site was named the Glyadenovsky bone. Later, researchers discovered wooden idols here, thousands of glass and stone beads, arrowheads and spears, and even ancient coins (Chinese and Kushan) dating back to the beginning of our era. To this day, the mountain periodically pleases scientists with new findings.
By the way, there are about a dozen bones in the Perm Territory. They say they are located in places where seismic activity once manifested itself or there are faults. The bones, according to the mysticism lovers, line up on the map into an intricate figure. Archaeologists respond to such statements with skepticism: they say, there is no smell of seismic activity there - just ancient people chose a place on a hill to perform their rituals. As the saying goes, "to beat the cattle, drink brews, take a walk to your heart's content, and organize religious rites."
“Later, when the Christianization of the Kama region began, these places were first of all adopted by the missionaries,” local researchers say. So, according to legend, a huge spruce, a sacred tree worshiped by the Ural Mansi, grew on the mountain in time immemorial. In the 16th century, here, in a cave dug by him on the side of a mountain, the Monk Tryphon, the Vyatka Miracle Worker, settled. He allegedly cut down and burned a pagan spruce. In memory of him, the Orthodox called the spring gushing on the side of the mountain the holy spring of Tryphon of Vyatka.
Today, almost nothing is left of the cave; it has collapsed and only a depression is noticeable in its place. But the territory has been cleared, and any pilgrim can get to the place where the saint lived and the source. Knowledgeable people advise: to learn more about Glyadenovskaya Gora, you should join a group and arrange an excursion with the local regional museum.
It is not difficult to get to the mountain on your own: by car from Perm you need to go to Bolshoye Savino. A little before reaching the airport, turn right - to Murashi and Petrovka. The mountain will be visible to the right of the road. You can spend the night on Glyadenovskaya Hill only in a tent, or, returning to Perm, in a hotel.