The oldest mysterious city of Arkaim, spread out on the territory of the Bredinsky district of the Chelyabinsk region, was discovered in 1987. If you look at this temple city from above, you can see a spiral curl. Today “Arkaim” is a reserve of the Chelyabinsk region, a kind of museum under the sky, attracting pilgrims.
“Arkaim” is a tourist place, an entire archaeological complex that consists of a fortified city center, a utility site, a burial ground and several unsecured settlements. Its geographical location is impressive - the foothills of the Ural Mountains (eastern side) and the Utyaganka river - the left tributary of the Great Karaganka.
The Arkaim nature reserve is a real treasure for scientists, because on its territory populations of rare animals and plants are preserved.
A brief history of the emergence of the reserve
Arkaim was first seen by military topographers in 1957, but did not show much interest in the mysterious circle. Ordinary topographers in aerial photography of the area in 1969 discovered a circular structure, which was considered a secret military base. And only in 1987, the participants of the Ural-Kazakhstan archaeological expedition accidentally discovered the humanity Arkaim. Defensive ramparts, ditches, a street have already been discovered during excavations. Thus arose one of the settlements of the "Country of cities" called Arkaim.
The creation of a branch of the Ilmensky Reserve of State Value, that is, the Experimental Museum, in 1991 was initiated by G. B. Zdanovich. In early 1994, the museum became a historical and archaeological center, and in 2007 it was reorganized into the Arkaim historical and cultural reserve of regional subordination with many attractions.
The complex structure of the reserve
Many argue that "Arkaim" - the reserve of the Chelyabinsk region - is an amazing place where you can concentrate your energy. Therefore, this place is always open not only to historians and archaeologists, but also to many pilgrims, clairvoyants, all who believe in the healing and purification of the soul. Arkaim also has a special tradition - to watch the sunrise from the top of the hill.
Attractions at the reserve "Arkaim" a lot. These are various museums and archaeological sites that are open for viewing.
Fortified Settlement Area
This archaeological site of the Bronze Age dates back to the 3rd-2nd millennium BC. e. From the town there were only small hills visible from the air. However, in the past Arkaim was a settlement with quite developed infrastructure at that time. Its territory (diameter - only 150 m) was inhabited by approximately 2-3 thousand people. There were several dozen houses in the settlement, but for some reason the natives burned their houses and left the city forever.
Historical park
This object of the archaeological complex is located near the river Bolshaya Karaganka, away from the hustle and bustle. In fact, the theme of burial prevails in this open-air museum. There are a lot of the most ancient gravestones made of stone and boxes with fences, indicating the existence of family cemeteries. There are also mysterious menhirs whose purpose has not been established. On the territory of the historical park is the Turkic complex Aksay of the Middle Ages.
Temir - reconstructed barrow
The remains of the museum, which displays the ancient mound, were the results of archaeological research of the Sarmatian mound, which was located in the Chesmensky district of the Chelyabinsk region. It is dated to the 4th century BC. e. Scientists were able to accurately reproduce a copy of the burial structure of the ancient nomadic tribes. They conveyed in detail both the appearance and the internal arrangement of the patrimonial tomb. Only the noble representatives of the tribe and their relatives were buried in the mounds.
Ancient village
The way our ancestors lived can be seen in the village reconstructed by archaeologists of the period of the Copper-Stone Age (Eneolithic). This ancient village is shown in natural sizes. The subsoil of its occurrence was the results of archaeological excavations in the village of Botai in northern Kazakhstan.
Here you can see housing in the form of rounded half ditches, because this form of housing was due to difficult climatic conditions.
Museum of Ethnography
All museum exhibits were collected in the Urals. Workers brought them to the reserve of the Chelyabinsk region and created here "Cossack estate". The prototype of this ethnographic museum is the house of the Dolgopolovs - Cossacks from the village of Varlamovo (late XIX - early XX centuries). The museum has many household items of the period. Knowledgeable guides talk about the traditions and customs of their ancestors. A very interesting building of the museum is the “Dutch” windmill (tent type), which stands near the house. It was built in Paris in 1929, after being transported to the Warsaw village, where it successfully functioned until the 60s of the twentieth century. In 1999, the mill was transported to the protected area.
They hold master classes in this museum for those who wish to do needlework. Here, craftswomen can make souvenirs as souvenirs.
Camp of nomadic tribes
More recently, that is, in 2010, on the territory of "Arkaim" was recreated a new building - a nomad camp. It represents four yurts in which you can not only see firsthand how the nomads lived, but also stop.
Museum of Ancient Crafts
This unique structure is arranged in a camp for tourists. Many admire the current stoves of impressive size. They were reconstructed in order to show how kilns for firing ceramic products, heating furnaces, and furnaces for smelting metal products looked like. You can touch all the things in the museum, which is especially popular with the kids.
Shamanic
Many people like to watch the sunrise and its sunset from the slopes of the Shamanka mountain, which is simply called the Shamanikha. At the top of this ancient paleovolcano you can see a spiral of stone. It has 13 revolutions, which symbolizes the chain of incarnations for passing to heaven. There is a belief that those who pass the spiral with bare feet become one with their family tree, their sins are forgiven.
Mountain of love
Behind the Karaganka river, in the upper tourist camp, the highest mountain "Arkaima" rises - Mount Love. On one of its slopes you can see a spiral of stones. Mountain of Love offers a magnificent panorama of the camp and a view of the Shamanicha.
Other protected areas of the region
Reserves, national parks of the Chelyabinsk region - these are the places in which everyone feels himself a part of mother nature. There are 3 nature reserves and 2 nature parks in the region. I must say that the reserves of the Chelyabinsk region, the list of which is not so big, have great historical, cultural and scientific value.
So, the Ilmensky reserve is famous for such crystalline compounds as minerals (sapphire, pomegranate, topaz, etc.). This is the most famous reserve of the Chelyabinsk region. In fact, it has almost all varieties of minerals of natural origin. They are presented at the exhibition of exhibits of the Natural Science Museum.
All the reserves of the Chelyabinsk region are significant. The list of their names is replenished with the South Ural Reserve and the so-called radiation (East Ural). Their main task is to protect the natural fund.
Enormous love of tourists and the local population are the nature reserves of the Chelyabinsk region, whose names are chosen very well. So, for example, the national park "Taganay" from Bashkir means "mountain of the rising moon." This is truly an amazing place from where the beautiful mountain landscapes and unique stone compositions open up to the human eye. But one of the Taganay mountains for its characteristic rounded shape is called Kruglitsa. The Zyuratkul nature park of national importance is also very popular among guests and residents of the region. A picturesque ecological path leads to its ridge.
Ural nature is charming. National parks, the Ilmensky reserve, botanical reserves, archaeological and historical centers, the Arkaim reserve will tell about its secrets. The Chelyabinsk region allocated about 200 thousand hectares of land to natural monuments.