Russia is rich in mysterious, shrouded in mystery places. They collected just such: ancient settlements, dolmens, caves, lakes and mountains, which are legendary. It’s kind of mystical!
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- Arkaim, Chelyabinsk region
- Olkhon Island, Irkutsk region
- Belukha Mountain, Altai
- The Face of Christ, Archyz
- Dolmens, Krasnaya Polyana
- Kashkulak cave, Khakassia
- Seydozero, Kola Peninsula
Arkaim, Chelyabinsk region
The ancient settlement, or settlement, Arkaim dates back to the boundary of the III-II millennia BC, and was discovered by archaeologists only in 1987 during the construction of the reservoir. Here, in the South Ural steppes, 4,000 years ago there was a developed civilization, which today attracts not only archaeologists, but also various esotericists, psychics and just those interested. They believe that Arkaim is a place where you can recharge with powerful energy.
It is customary to go to the mountain of Love or Rook Hill to communicate with the gods and make wishes. It is believed that everyone who swims in the icy river at the foot will immediately become younger. And that the mountain of Repentance allows you to forgive accumulated grievances and find inner harmony, and the Shaman mountain allows you to connect with the cosmic stream and reconnect with your ancestors.
How to get there: the nearest major city with an airport is Magnitogorsk, you can fly to it by direct flight from Moscow from 10,300 rubles and from 9,400 rubles from St. Petersburg. Then you will have to cover about 150 km by car or bus (from 350 rubles) — and you are there. Also, from large cities such as Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Ufa, Perm, many excursions are organized, as part of which you can visit Arkaim.
The ancient settlement, or settlement, Arkaim dates back to the border of the III-II millennia BC Photo: Vadim Orlov/Shutterstock.com
What else to see in the Chelyabinsk region
It has its own little Lake Baikal and wonderful reserves with mountain ranges. They told me about it!A blog post on how to build a trip to the Southern Urals.
Olkhon Island, Irkutsk region
When approaching the rock, guests are greeted by 13 sacred pillars of serge, on which colored ribbons are tied today to fulfill wishes. According to legend, 13 sons of Tengri (supreme deities) descended to earth to help people. The oldest and most powerful of them settled in the rock cave — the spirit of Khan Hute-baabai, who is revered to this day by shamans as the main defender and master of the island.
Cape Burkhan has long been accessible only to shamans who performed various rites of worship. Women and children were forbidden to even set foot on the territory. Now everyone can visit the place, however, it is impossible to climb the cliff and look into the cave — this is indicated by a sign.
When approaching the rock, guests are greeted by 13 sacred pillars of serge, on which colored ribbons are tied today to fulfill wishes. Photo: Viktorya Telminova/Shutterstock.com
Olkhon is full of other mystical stories. The most popular of them says that a kind spirit lives in the forests of the island, which helps lost travelers. At Cape Khoboy, girls make wishes for marriage and children, and the stupa of enlightenment on Ogoy Island gives relief from bad karma and fulfillment of dreams if you go around it in a circle.
What do the Buryats bring as a gift to the spirits
Buryats in sacred places burkhanat, that is, they appease the spirits: they sprinkle milk or tarasun milk vodka (they do not drink, namely they sprinkle!), leave milk, rice and sweets.
How to get there: first fly to Irkutsk (direct flights from the capital — from 8000 rubles one way, from St. Petersburg — from 10 100 rubles). After that, you need to cover a distance of about 300 km by car or bus (to Khuzhir — ~ 2000 rubles), which will take about 5-6 hours (in summer there are terrible traffic jams and you can get stuck much longer). After arriving at the ferry, we transfer to a free ferry and move to the island itself in 15 minutes. In winter, the ferry does not work and the road runs directly over the Baikal ice. Be sure to monitor the situation — until the ice completely solidifies, the path for the car is closed.
To get to Olkhon, you must first fly to Irkutsk. Photo: Strelyuk/Shutterstock.com
Belukha Mountain, Altai
It is impossible not to remember Altai when it comes to the places of power of Russia. Everywhere you look, there are mysterious territories about which legends are made up: Teletskoye Lake, Ukok Plateau, Geyser Lake, museums with petroglyphs in the open air (for example, Kalbak-Tash). Belukha Mountain tops this list. She is called the Queen of Altai and is ranked among the divine peaks capable of changing the fate of people. It is customary to ask for blessings from the sacred mountain, but the locals do not climb it, do not perform any rituals there and communicate with the Beluga exclusively from a distance — unlike many tourists who regularly climb.
In Altai, people believe that Belukha will never let someone with bad thoughts to the top. This is how they explain the sudden changes in the weather, which plot against climbers. The lucky ones who climbed Belukha talk about transcendental experiences and unusual emotions (although it is no wonder to experience them, having conquered the highest point of Siberia).
She is called the Queen of Altai and is ranked among the divine peaks capable of changing people’s destinies. Photo: pavant/Shutterstock.com
The beluga whale was glorified by Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich, who visited it on an expedition in 1926. The famous artist and writer saw an energetic connection between the Himalayas and Beluga, dedicated a huge number of paintings and texts to the mountain. Roerich believed that here is one of the gates to the mystical Shambhala (which the Old Believers also call Belovodye) — a mythical country that is mentioned in the sacred texts of Buddhists and Hindus. Belukha has an exceptional location: the mountain is located approximately equidistant from the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian and Arctic Oceans, thus forming the central point of Eurasia. The Katun River, sacred to the locals, also originates from the Belukha glaciers.
How to get there: the first destination is Gorno-Altaysk, tickets from Moscow cost from 13,300 rubles for a direct one—way flight, from St. Petersburg – from 7,100 rubles. From here to the mountain is 250 km, and the path will depend onwhether you are going to make an ascent or stop to relax in a comfortable hotel and fly to Belukha by helicopter. In the first case, you need to take a bus to the village of Tyungur and then go to the top as part of a group.
You can stay in Gorny Altai in classic hotels, cozy glamping under the stars or at camp sites — choose what you like.
Beluga was glorified by Nikolai Konstantinovich Roerich, who visited here on an expedition in 1926. Photo: Mikadun/Shutterstock.com
The face of Christ, Arkhyz
The Caucasus is also full of surprises. During the great Caucasian journey, the face of Christ sunk into my soul. The image can be found on a rock, at an altitude of 100 meters: 526 steps of stairs inscribed in natural landscapes lead to it. When you get to the top, you can clearly see the image of Jesus, as if imprinted in stone. Someone thinks it’s God’s providence, someone thinks it was done to attract tourists – no one knows for sure, but the place is atmospheric without a doubt.
It is convenient to combine a visit to this attraction with a trip to the mountain village of Arkhyz.
How to get: via Mineralnye Vody (direct flights from Moscow — from 3,500 rubles, from St. Petersburg – from 11,900 rubles). The village of Arkhyz is located 211 km from Mineralnye Vody. You can overcome this distance by car in 3 hours or by bus or minibus in 4-5 hours (tickets — from 800 rubles one way).
When you get to the top, you can clearly see the image of Jesus, as if imprinted in stone. Photo: VisualFormat/Shutterstock.com
Dolmens, Krasnaya Polyana
Krasnodar Territory is famous not only for boiled corn, homemade cognac and the Black Sea, but also for places where people charge their internal batteries. Of course, we are not talking about the main beach of Sochi, but about Krasnaya Polyana, the Russian version of Bali Island.
One of the places of power in the district is the Krasnopolyansk dolmens. It is not known for certain where they came from and what exactly they were intended for. However, many scientists and archaeologists agree that dolmens served as megalithic tombs. In the vicinity of Krasnaya Polyana there are seven structures dating back to the III-II millennia BC.
One of the places of power in the district is the Krasnopolyansk dolmens. Photo: Evgeni Romanov/Shutterstock.com
In addition to dolmens, two pagan labyrinths can be found here: male and female. Since ancient times, such structures have been used for rituals of desires: you need to go through the entire maze from the edge to the center, make a wish, take seven breaths and exhale and return back. Nearby there is a solar circle of stones for sun worship, burial grounds of the X-XVI centuries, a pagan temple of water and the Beshenka river, in which people bathe to renew energy (be careful, the water is cold, but the effect is like after a bathhouse in the snow, invigorating).
How to get there: fly to Sochi (direct tickets from the capital — from 3,800 rubles, from St. Petersburg — from 6,400 rubles one way), take a taxi, bus or “Swallow” to get to Krasnaya Polyana. And from here everything is already easy and at ease: enter the “Krasnopolyansk dolmens” in the maps and go there by car or even on foot if you stop nearby.
In addition to dolmens, two pagan labyrinths can be found here. Photo: Katya Rekina/Shutterstock.com
Where to stay in Sochi
In the mountains or at sea? We recommended Sochi hotels that are worthy of a trip in themselves. You can come to them all year round and find something to have fun in any season.
Seydozero, Kola Peninsula
The remains of one of the oldest stone observatories are preserved here, therefore, Seydozero is often called the Russian version of Stonehenge. Also, seekers of mysticism will be interested in the “Dancing Forest”, where the tree trunks are twisted and unusually inclined, and the Kuiva rock, which depicts a shaman.
How to get there: via Murmansk (from 4,800 rubles from Moscow and from 4,300 rubles from St. Petersburg by direct flight). After that, it’s worth heading to the village of Lovozero (200 km, about 3 hours by car or bus, from 700 rubles.), and then transfer to deer (this is not a joke, in winter it’s the only way) and go explore the Lovozero tundra. In summer, you can ride on the lake on saps and boats.
Seydozero is the center of the spiritual life of the Sami, a mysterious place with anomalous phenomena and a point of attraction for shamans. Photo: IVAN ABORNEV/Shutterstock.com
Kashkulak cave, Khakassia
Shamanic rituals have long been held in the cave, traces of which can be observed to this day: animal bones, ashes from bonfires and other ritual paraphernalia. Many people who have visited here claim that they saw the image of a White Shaman and felt inexplicable anxiety. Which does not detract at all, but rather fuels the interest of tourists.
Kashkulak cave in Khakassia, or popularly “devil’s cave”, causes goosebumps and a chill down the spine. Photo: Pavel Kolmogorov/Shutterstock.com
Kashkulak cave is considered one of the oldest in Russia: its age is more than a million years old. In addition, it is amazing in size: the length is 820 meters, and the depth is 49 meters. The cave consists of several levels, and only the upper one is accessible to ordinary visitors. Those who have experience in speleology can get below.
Khakassia is rich in strengths: I will note the Khakass Chests with amazing acoustics and energy and the mountain Ulug Hurtuyakh-Tas, which is approached with a request for the birth of children.
How to get there: the nearest city with an airport is the capital of the region, Abakan. You can get here by direct flight from Moscow for the amount of 15,000 rubles or more, you will have to fly from St. Petersburg with a transfer. There will be 190 km to the cave along a difficult road, so the best option would be to go there as part of an excursion group with an experienced guide.
The nearest city with an airport is the capital of the region, Abakan. Photo: Ann Kapustina/Shutterstock.com
At least believe it, at least check it out: Russia is filled with amazing places. Some make your blood run cold, others fill you with energy. You can believe or doubt, but it definitely won’t hurt to visit these mysterious locations at least once.
Cover photo: Master Unknown/unsplash.com
