Every person dreams of visiting at least one of the amazing places in the world. Living in huge cities, people miss the beauty that mother nature offers them. Visit Bashkiria, because seeing with your own eyes the 7 wonders of Bashkortostan, you can fill your heart with harmony and peace.
Own world
Bashkortostan is not just one of the many regions of Russia. This is a separate world with its own history and culture, with unusually beautiful nature and hospitable people who cherish the national traditions and protect the unique 7 wonders of Bashkortostan.
National Reserve
The Shulgan-Tash Reserve is a place with unusually beautiful nature, where several wonders of Bashkiria are located at once. It got its name from the mysterious cave located on its territory.
Water that went under the stone
Shulgan-Tash is considered one of the largest karst caves in the Southern Urals. It is located on the Belaya River. The origin of the name is associated with the Shulgan River, which flows near the cave. This river is named after the character of the Bashkir epic, whose elder brotherruled the underworld. "Tash" in translation from Bashkir means "stone". That is, literally the name of the cave is translated as “water that died or went under a stone.”
Shulgan-Tash is also called the Kapova Cave. The origin of this name is connected with the word "temple", that is, "temple". According to some reports, the cave was a pagan temple. Archaeological excavations and ancient legends testify to this.
Numerous rock paintings, about 18 thousand years old, were found on the walls of the cave. They depict animals, huts, triangles and stairs, oblique lines. To date, 173 drawings have been deciphered and described, the largest of them has a size of more than a meter.
Here are some more interesting numbers:
- The length of the cave is more than 2 kilometers.
- The entrance to the cave is a huge arch, its height is 30 meters.
- The largest bellows in Europe (a cavity filled with water without air), with a diameter of more than 400 meters, is located in the Kapova cave.
- The cave has three floors, the first - 300 meters in length - has been fully studied, the second is under study, now scientists have only managed to advance 1.5 km. Examination of the third floor is difficult due to cliffs and crevices.
Wild honey
Bashkortostan is the only region of Russia where beekeeping, the most ancient form of beekeeping, is practiced. Honey is harvested directly from the trees.
Bees live in hollows called "bort". Therefore, the trade is called "beekeeping". He actively developedin the 18th and 19th centuries.
Beekeeping in Bashkiria was a kind of tradition. Some farms numbered a hundred or more boards. The trees on which the boards were located passed from father to son, tamga was placed on them - a sign of the owner's clan. Borti could serve up to 150 years.
Favorable conditions, the presence of linden and maple forests contributed to the development of beekeeping in Bashkiria. And a special Central Russian breed of bees, formed in the Southern Urals, is distinguished by high biological activity. A family of these hard workers can produce up to 12 kg of honey per day!
In terms of its healing properties, Bashkir honey is incomparable with any other product. And its aroma and delicate taste cannot leave anyone indifferent.
Bashkir epic
One of the 7 wonders of Bashkiria is the millennial epic "Ural Batyr". The theme of life and death in it is intricately intertwined with another major theme - good and evil. The most ancient epic has been translated into many languages, which means that it raises eternal topics that worried people thousands of years ago and still worry us.
The epic "Ural-Batyr" was recorded in 1910 by the Bashkir storyteller and collector of folklore M. Burangulov from connoisseurs of Bashkir ancient legends and traditions.
The essence of them is this. Father Yanbirde and mother Yanbike gave birth to two brothers - Ural and Shulgen. The boys quickly grew up and learned that Death is stronger than man. Then the brothers decided to go in search of a spring, the water of which can give a person immortality.
Having passed the hard way and having reachedsource, Ural-batyr decided that immortality should be given only to nature. This is the meaning of the epic "Ural Batyr".
The singing soul of the Bashkirs
The national wind instrument of the Bashkirs - kurai - is considered one of the 7 wonders of Bashkortostan. It is made from a plant 1.5-2 meters long, from which it got its name.
The plant is cut at the root in August-September, when it fades and begins to dry out. Then they make a "pipe" 60-80 cm long. Holes are made from below at intervals of 4, 2, and 3 fingers from the bottom hole.
Initially, the instrument was used by shepherds to signal. Gradually, the Bashkirs were so imbued with him that the sounds made by the kurai were perceived as an integral part of the nature of Bashkiria.
As a token of love for the instrument and the plant from which it is obtained, the Bashkirs even placed a kurai inflorescence on the emblem and flag of their republic.
Healing Mountain
"Burning Mountain" - this is how the name of another miracle from the list of 7 wonders of Bashkortostan is translated. It has been a natural monument since 1965.
The height of Mount Yangantau is 413 meters above sea level. At its very top is one of the best resorts in Russia with the same name. This is the only place in our country where vaporous jets of hot gases are emitted from the bowels.
Until now, the nature of such a thermal phenomenon has not been elucidated. There are suggestions that an underground fire, lightning or even radiation contributed to this.
Bashkirs explain the phenomenon through legends. One of them says that many centuries ago a tree standing on top was struck by lightning. It burned down, and the fire went inside the mountain along the roots and lives there to this day.
Mineral springs of Krasnousolsk
Krasnousolsky mineral springs are located in the valley of the Usolka River, 5 km from the village of Krasnousolskoye. There are about 250 sources in total.
They originate at an altitude of 132-136 meters above sea level. The springs contain sodium chloride, hydrogen sulfide and other waters that help treat gynecological and skin diseases, as well as disorders of the musculoskeletal system.
Krasnousolskie springs have been known since the 16th century. According to the legend of the times of Ivan IV (the Terrible), archers and Cossacks arrived on plows along the Kama and Belaya rivers in Bashkiria to lay the Ufa prison. They climbed higher along the Belaya River to the mouth of the Kugush River and there they laid the prison of Tabynsky. The first settlers - the Tabyns - learned how to extract the s alt necessary for everyday life from the s alty water of Kugush, so the river was renamed Usolka, and the settlement later became known as Krasnousolsk.
In 1924, the resort "Krasnousolsk" was formed, however, then it was a pair of wooden houses, where the military came to improve their he alth.
After the Great Patriotic War, invalids of the war were treated there. A little later, a children's sanatorium was built nearby.
Monument to the hero
Residents and guests of the city of Ufa are greeted by a monument towering over the Belaya Rivernational Bashkir hero and poet Salavat Yulaev. He became the hallmark of Ufa, and his image is placed in the center of the coat of arms of the Republic of Bashkortostan.
The monument is the largest horseman sculpture in Europe. It is almost 10 meters high and weighs 40 tons.
The history of the monument to Salavat Yulaev has been going on since 1967. It was cast from bronze cast iron at the Monumentskulptura plant in Leningrad. The work continued for a month and a half. 3 years after the discovery of the sculpture (and this happened on November 17, 1967), Soslanbek Dafaevich Yulaev was awarded the USSR State Prize.
The monument took part in the All-Russian competition "Russia 10" as the main attraction of the Volga District.
Miracles not in the Top 7
To visit Bashkiria and limit yourself to only seven sights of Bashkortostan is just a crime! Therefore, pay attention to several wonders of the republic that are not included in the "magnificent seven":
- Askinsky ice cave. This is the largest ice cave in the Urals. It looks like a giant stone bag where cold air enters and stays inside. The huge hall of the cave annually becomes a place for demonstration of ice sculptures of stunning beauty. In addition, the domed arch of the cave creates the effect of splitting any sound, even a word spoken in a whisper, into many voices. Not every cave has such a magical echo.
- Waterfall Gadelsha. The largest waterfall in the South Urals showsitself in all its glory from early April to mid-May. The fall of a large stream of water from a height of 12 meters is simply mesmerizing. Tourists from all regions of the country come to see this miracle.
- Skala Kuzganak. “Eye”, and this is how the name of the rock is translated, is a large stone sail, surrounded by the Zilim River on three sides. The main attraction of this rock is a through hole. On a clear night, when the light of the moon passes through it and is reflected in the waters of Zilim, everything around becomes magical and mysterious.
- Aslykul. The lake, whose area is 23.5 square kilometers, seems like a small sea in the very center of Bashkiria. At the same time, it is quite shallow - the average depth is only 5.5 meters. The lake is famous for its picturesque shores, rocks and cliffs.
We hope you managed to feel the fabulous atmosphere of Bashkiria. May it inspire new discoveries and achievements. We wish you to visit this land with extraordinary nature and amazing culture as soon as possible.
