There are many mysterious and mysterious places in the world, shrouded in many legends and the most incredible stories. They are interested in scientists and lovers of everything unusual. These undoubtedly include the island of Vera on Lake Turgoyak. Here legends and myths are so closely intertwined with the past that sometimes it is impossible to distinguish one from the other.
Turgoyak Lake
This extraordinary natural reservoir is located in the Chelyabinsk region, at the foot of the Ilmensky ridge. It is 120 km from Chelyabinsk, and 230 km from Yekaterinburg. The area of the mirror is about 27 square kilometers. The bottom of the lake is rocky, and the water is crystal clear.
Turgoyak is a unique lake recognized as the most valuable reservoir of the world. The huge granite bowl, which reaches 6 km in diameter, at a depth of 40 meters, is filled with more than half a billion tons of absolutely pure water.
origin of name
There are several versions about this. One of them is the most common and is considered more believable. Researchers believe that the name comes from Bashkir words. “Tur” means “exaltation”, “place of honor”, and “yak” - “side”. The name translates as “elevated lake” or “high lake”. This version is recognized as the most truthful, since it gives an estimate of the altitude position of the reservoir in the lake system of the eastern slope of the Southern Urals.
Mysterious island
Today it is scientifically confirmed that in the XIX century on this island was a male Old Believer monastery. Some scholars are inclined to believe that the name of the island means faith in God, not a female name. Here, the dilapidated remains of a stone church, monastic cells, and refectory have been preserved. The monastery was destroyed at the very beginning of the 20th century. Today it is reminded of a memorial cross located on the highest point of the island.
In 2004, archaeologists finally recognized the stone buildings, which were previously considered monastic cells, monuments dating back to the Neolithic era. It is possible that the monks lived in these ancient buildings, but they were created long before their appearance on the island.
Faith Island: Description
The island, located closer to the western shore of the lake, is small - 0.4x0.7 km. Nevertheless, it is the largest on the lake. Descriptions of the stone structures located here were published in 1909. They belonged to the architect V. Filyansky from Yekaterinburg.
The island of Vera on Lake Turgoyak is clearly divided into two completely independent parts. They are distinguished by vegetation, climate, archaeological sites. So, aspen and birch grow in the northeast, pine trees in the southwest. Most of all ancient monuments are concentrated in the southwestern part of the island. The Neanderthal camp was located here, the remains of the Old Believers' monastery (ruins of a chapel, cells), ancient quarries and menhirs (stones set vertically) were discovered.
Research indicates the existence of an Old Believer community of no more than twenty people in these places in the middle of the 19th century. Later, archaeologists concluded that island stone caves are megalithic religious buildings dating back to the Stone Age.
Island legends
Fans of secrets and adventures are attracted by the Chelyabinsk region. The island of Vera has always been famous for many legends that are passed down by the locals from generation to generation. One of them says that at the beginning of the 19th century, the hermit Vera, who had run away from home, settled on the island in a stone dugout, fearing that her parents would marry her to an unloved person. She founded the Old Believer monastery on the island.
Faith was famous for prayer help to people and its miracles. However, it should be recognized that, in addition to the stories of the island’s old-timers, there is no evidence of this information, as well as evidence of her very stay on the island.
Megaliths
The most striking and valuable monuments that glorified the island of Vera are large religious buildings built of huge stones - megaliths. So called similar buildings around the world. These are ancient buildings of the IV-II millennium BC. e. As of today, the island of Vera has the oldest such architectural buildings in Russia. Their age is more than five thousand years. This is a thousand years more than the age of the famous dolmens. Analogues of such structures are in South England, Ireland.
Since 2004, on the island of Vera, archaeological excavations are carried out every summer , and researchers make new discoveries every year. Historians have come to an interesting conclusion: since most megaliths of the world are usually located in coastal areas, scientists have suggested that the ancient megalith builders probably mistook Lake Turgoyak for sea in the mountains.
Island Builds
Vera Island (photo you can see in the article) has the characteristic features of the building. All buildings are oriented to the cardinal. According to ancient people, the north and west were associated with the sunset, cold, side of the dead, south and east, respectively, were the embodiment of sunrise and the beginning of life. Each structure was built taking into account the knowledge of the days of the solstice and equinox.
It should be noted that it is rather difficult to precisely determine the equinox in mountain regions. However, the ancient builders managed to calculate everything. Therefore, on the days of the equinox and solstice, the sun's rays pass through the crevices of megaliths and windows in a special way.
In the center of the island is the largest megalith. Its length is nineteen meters, and the height of the walls is more than two meters. It consists of several side chambers, as well as the main hall with five windows.
How were caves built?
Scientists were able to understand how these stone caves were built. At first, they dug a pit, built walls of stone blocks, after that, wooden floors were installed inside and at the end of the work they rolled the roof. A stone quarry and some semblance of a smelter were discovered on the very outskirts of the island. This finding confirmed the assumption of scientists that the ancient builders had already developed metallurgical production and had the necessary tools. For this reason, in the construction they used not only natural blocks of granite, but also individual blocks carved from them.
Megalith No. 2
Next to the main is megalith, which received number two. It is very small - it seems that it is built for the dwarves. However, if you crawl inside this stone box, a person of short stature can easily stand there at full height.
St. Faith Cave
This megalith (or dolmen) is an underground room, covered with a stone slab. If you believe the legends, it was here that Vera lived. Megalith consists of three small chambers and a corridor, the dimensions of which are quite impressive. Under its arches, a man of average height can easily stand up to his full height. It is oriented strictly to the west.
Scientists noted an interesting feature: at sunset, on the day of the equinox, a sunbeam looks into the cave, passes through the entire room and stops on the opposite wall. All tourists who come to the island of Vera are surprised how the semicircular arch is kept from collapsing. The slabs of the structure are laid with an inlet, in connection with this the load is redistributed at an angle of 45 degrees.
Another amazing fact: the ancient builders knew geology. The cave is built exactly between the cracks that appeared in granodiorites (deep rocks) during natural movements. The embankment, which raises the structure with the ground, is built of sedimentary rocks. At the same time, the builders took into account the direction of the discharge, apparently, they knew very well the nature of the materials and the terrain.
Traces of civilization
Researchers at the archaeological site of the Russian Academy of Sciences discovered traces of various cultures of many millennia: the masonry and ceramics of the Bronze Age are adjacent to jasper plates that ancient people used to make brackets, knives, arrowheads. The technique of splitting the material indicates its belonging to the Stone Age. Fragments of ceramics from the Gamayun culture were also found on the island.
Excursions
Today there are many who want to visit the island of Vera. Excursions to this mysterious land area are held in the summer from Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk every weekend. A tour costs about 2000 rubles. This amount includes a trip to the lake, accommodation in a hotel (recreation center).
Children like to come to Turgoyak Lake. Tours with interesting excursions and entertainments are created for them. The cost of such a trip is quite affordable - about 900 rubles.
Chalets and hotels
On the coastal strip of Lake Turgoyak many modern recreation centers, children's camps and sanatoriums have been built. The most comfortable travelers consider the recreation center "Silver Sands", "Golden Beach", boarding house "Turgoyak", hotel "Krutiki". Here guests are offered a wide variety of entertainment: excursions around the lake, boat trips, diving, surfing, rental bicycles and ATVs.
In addition, you can spend the night in a tent on the lake. Some camp sites provide for this special places. Locals rent rooms.
Faith Island: how to get there?
The easiest way to get to the lake is as part of an excursion group, but if you plan an independent trip, then you need to go along the Ufa tract (via Miass). Destination - Turgoyak village. The length of the road is 120 km.
The lake can also be reached by rail. From Ufa and other cities that are located on the Trans-Siberian Railway, you can take any long-distance train to the Miass station. Here you need to transfer to a minibus number 38, which will take you to your place.
In summer, a tourist boat to Vera Island goes from Mias. Its capacity is 30 people. In the dry and hot season, you can go on foot through the isthmus.