Issyk Kul (also Ysyk Köl, Issyk-kol; Kyrgyz: Ысык көл, Russian: Иссык-Куль) is an endorheic lake in the northern
Tian Shan mountains in eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the ninth largest lake in the world by volume and the second largest saline lake after the Caspian Sea. Although it is surrounded by snow-capped peaks, it never freezes; hence its name, which means "warm lake" in the Kyrgyz language. The lake is a Ramsar site of globally significant biodiversity (Ramsar Site RDB Code 2KG001) and forms part of the Issyk-Kul Biosphere Reserve. It is also the site of an ancient metropolis 2500 years ago, and archaeological excavations are ongoing.
Lake Issyk Kul has a length of
182 km, a width of up to
60 km, and covers an area of
6,336 km². This makes it the
second largest mountain lake in the world behind Lake Titicaca in South America. Located at an
altitude of 1,608 m, it reaches 668 m in depth.
About 118 rivers and streams flow into the lake; the largest are Djyrgalan and Tyup. It is fed by springs, including many hot springs, and snow melt-off. The lake has no current outlet, but some hydrologists hypothesize that, deep underground, lake water filters into the Chu River. The bottom of the lake contains the mineral monohydrocalcite: one of the few known lacustrine deposits.
The lake's southern shore is dominated by the ruggedly beautiful Tian Shan mountain range. The lake water has salinity of approx. 0.6% (less than 3.5% of seawater) and its level drops by approximately 5 cm per year.
Administratively, the lake and the adjacent land are within Issyk Kul Province of Kyrgyzstan.
The LegendIn pre-Islamic legend, the king of the Ossounes had donkey's ears. He would hide them, and order each of his barbers killed to hide his secret. One barber yelled the secret into a well, but he didn't cover the well after. The well water rose and flooded the kingdom. The kingdom is today under the waters of Issyk-Kul. This is how the lake was formed, so legend says. Other legends say that four drowned cities lie at the bottom of the lake. Substantial archaeological finds indicating the presence of an advanced civilization in ancient times have been made in shallow waters of the lake.
HistoryLake Issyk Kul was a stopover on the
Silk Road, a land route for travelers from the Far East to Europe. Many historians believe that the lake was the point of origin for the Black Death that plagued Europe and Asia during the early and mid-14th century. The lake's status as a byway for travelers allowed the plague to spread across these continents via medieval merchants who unknowingly carried infested vermin along with them.
A 14th century Armenian monastery was found on the northeastern shores of the lake by retracing the steps of a medieval map used by
Venetian merchants on the Silk Road.
The lake level was some 8 meters lower in medieval times. Divers have found the remains of drowned settlements in shallow areas around the lake. In December 2007, a report was released by a team of Kyrgyz historians, led by Vladimir Ploskikh, vice president of the Kyrgyz Academy of Sciences, that archaeologists have discovered the
remains of a 2500-year-old advanced civilization at the bottom of the Lake. The data and artifacts obtained suggest that the ancient city was a metropolis in its time. The discovery consisted of formidable walls, some stretching for 500 meters as well as traces of a large city with an area of several square kilometers. Other findings included
Scythian burial mounds eroded over the centuries by waves, as well as numerous well-preserved artifacts, including bronze battleaxes, arrowheads, self-sharpening daggers, objects discarded by smiths, casting molds, and a faceted gold bar that was a monetary unit of the time.
Articles identified as the world's oldest extant coins were also found underwater with gold wire rings used as small change and a large hexahedral goldpiece. Also found was a bronze cauldron with a level of craftsmanship that is today achieved by using an inert gas environment.
PetroglyphsThe oldest petroglyphs are dated to approximately the Neolithic and late Upper Paleolithic boundary, about 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, if not earlier (Kamyana Mohyla). Around 7,000 to 9,000 years ago, other precursors of writing systems, such as pictographs and ideograms, began to appear. Petroglyphs were still common though, and some cultures continued using them much longer, even until contact with Western culture was made in the 20th century. Petroglyphs have been found in all parts of the globe except Antarctica with highest concentrations in parts of Africa, Scandinavia, Siberia, southwestern North America and Australia.
Tako, da sva dan prezivela na plazi ob igranju backgammona, ki se mu tukaj rece Nar`d in seveda obvezno zavita v 2 puloverja in se anorak. In to za cez dan. Zvecer je tak mraz, da sem jaz dobil jetiko. Tako da celo noc po tanovem kuriva pecko, da sploh preziviva. Tak mraz, ki se zaleze v kosti, tako da sva oba prehlajena in smrkava. Matr pa tak poletje.
