Issyk-Kul

Issyk-Kul

Issyk-Kul means ‘warm lake’ in the Kyrgyz language. Lake is 182 kilometres long, up to 60 kilometres wide and its area is 6,236 square kilometres. Lake 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.

About Issyk-Kul in brief

Summary Issyk-KulIssyk-Kul means ‘warm lake’ in the Kyrgyz language. Lake is 182 kilometres long, up to 60 kilometres wide and its area is 6,236 square kilometres. It is the second-largest mountain lake in the world behind Lake Titicaca in South America. Lake 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 level is some 8 metres higher than in medieval times. Divers have found the remains of submerged settlements in shallow areas around the lake. In December 2007, a report was released by a team of KyrgyZ historians, led by Vladimir Ploskikh, that archaeologists have discovered the remains. of a 2500-year-old civilization at the Lake.

The data and artifacts obtained suggest that the ancient city was a large city with an advanced walls, some stretching for 500 metres. Other findings included bronze battle-preserved artifacts, including bronze battleaxheads, arrowheads, self-sharpening daggers, objects discarded by smiths, and a large hexa-hedged gold piece. In 1916, a monastery at the Issyk-kul monastery achieved an inert gas level that is today achieved by using a gas craft that is used by an inert environment. In the 1990s, the lake became a popular vacation resort, with numerous sanatoria, boarding houses and vacation homes along its northern shore. Now hotel complexes are being refurbished and simple private bed-and-breakfast rentals are being established for a new generation of health and leisure visitors.