Altai Republic, Chemal village: attractions

When a person encounters something amazing and beautiful, he wants this to remain with him forever. Most often this is impossible, but not in the case of the pristine nature of the Altai, the pearl of which is Chemal. The places of interest of this place are its nature, which constantly surprises. Apparently, therefore, every year, there are lines of buses and cars with tourists eager to get in touch with it.

History of Chemal

Each settlement has its own biography, which indicates how it was created, how it developed and even how it disappeared from the face of the Earth, if it happened. The history of the village of Chemal, whose attractions are now on the UNESCO World Heritage List, began in the late 18th century with runaway peasants who were looking for a better life.

Now it is not known how well they lived, but they chose a unique place for the construction of their houses. When in 1849 the missionaries settled here with their families, a new life began in the village. The unique properties of its air became widely known, and by the end of the 19th century celebrities, scientists and creative intelligentsia began to visit this distant land. At one time here lived PN. Krylov, V.Ya. Shishkov, G.N. Potanin and other famous people.

Thanks to the missionaries, temples and churches were erected here, some of which have been restored and are functioning today. The Church of St. John the Theologian, for example, was built in 1850, but then moved from the village to the island of Patmos in 1915, and in 2001 it was completely restored.

The first sanatorium for tuberculosis patients was built in 1905 with the money of Bishop Makarii and with his blessing. In the 30 years of the 20th century the sanatorium became a governmental one, its director was the wife of M. Kalinina Catherine. By this time in the village there already worked a bathhouse, a bakery and workshops.

Today, in order to get to a sanatorium or one of Chemal's tourist centers, it is necessary to book places in advance, so this place became so popular.

Nature

If you list the natural attractions of Chemal, then the first on the list will be its air. There are several reasons for its uniqueness:

• Firstly, the climate in these places is strikingly different from that characteristic of the Altai Republic. There is almost no snow, and winter temperatures rarely fall below -8 degrees, while only 10-15 km from the village it reaches -25. In summer it is warm and sunny, which is also not typical of other areas. By the number of sunny days it can be compared with the Crimean coast.
• Secondly, the air is filled not only with ozone, but also with essential oils. This is due to the growing relic pine forest, the trees of which extract these oils.

• Third, moderate dryness of air, which contributes to the lack of swamps. Many travelers who have visited here know everything about Chemal, its sights, but do not know about one amazing phenomenon. Here there are no mosquitoes, which is completely not peculiar to places near water and forest.
• Fourth, the mountains surrounding the village with their alpine meadows contribute to the purity and ozonation of the air.

The nature of Chemal has become the main reason for such popularity among tourists.

Church of St. John the Evangelist

If you make a list of the best attractions in Chemal, created by the hands of a man, then the Church of St. John the Divine will occupy the first place in it.

The name of the island has its own interesting history. When the temple was still standing on the banks of the Katun River, the monks chose this piece of sushi as a place for solitary prayers. Nameless at that time, the island rises majestically almost in the middle of the river. This was the reason that in 1855 he was illuminated by Bishop Parfenius and named in his honor Patmos in the Mediterranean, on which John the Theologian was given the revelation of the Lord. In his conduct the prophet saw not only the apocalypse, but also two islands floating above the water with temples on them. That is why the illuminated island was later moved to the temple from the shore of the Katun.

In Soviet times, the temple was destroyed, but today it is once again reborn, and on the shore of the Katun built a nunnery, which is connected to the island by a suspension bridge. If someone is interested in the question of what to see in Chemal, then it's worth to pass along the shaky bridge for the sake of two icons. One of them miraculously self-restored, and the other became myrrh after the illumination of the renewed temple. There is evidence that they are miraculous.

Chemal HPP

As was customary in Soviet times, the first power plant in Siberia was built by prisoners. It has been working for a long time, but today it is a museum and an entertainment place. Admission for an adult is 450 rubles, and for children - 250 rubles.

On the territory of the former hydroelectric power station you can visit:

• in the cafe;
• In souvenir shops;
• In aquapark;
• In a shooting range and on a playground;
• To visit the attraction "Adrenaline";
• Jump from the dam into the water and much more.

Here you can get the most interesting and exciting impressions of the entertainment that Chemal offers. Attractions of the HPP are suitable for children and their parents.

Chemal Health Resort

It is surprising that in the village most of the local curiosities are the only ones, if not in the world, then in all of Eastern Siberia. Already many patients of the local sanatorium had the opportunity to improve their health and study what Chemal had prepared for them. Comments on treatment and conditions of detention suggest that not only the climate around is good, but also the atmosphere in the sanatorium is very friendly and the same curative.

Active life in the sanatorium began when Ekaterina Kalinina became its director. Originally it was a health resort for the health of the members of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, to which many prominent figures of art and literature also visited. Only in 1957 it was re-profiled into a mountain climatic rehabilitation clinic for tuberculosis patients with varying degrees of complication of the disease.

To get into it, you need a referral from the doctors to get a voucher. Who has already been treated here, note the extraordinary impact of local air and his help in recovery.

Cultural center "Ornigu"

For those who decided to relax and improve their health in the Altai, it will be interesting to know what sights to see in Chemal related to local traditions and people. One of such objects is the cultural center "Ornigu".

It consists of 4 yurts, each of which highlights the life and customs of the Altaians:

• The first yurt is dedicated to national clothes and everyday objects;
• The second provides information on the elders of births, about which materials and photographs are collected;

• The third is a yurt for thinking about peace, religion and friendship, here are presented the attributes of faith;
• The fourth narrates about the nomadic life of the Altai people.

The museum is young, but it has already visited more than 12,000 people, which speaks of people's interest in the history of Altai and its inhabitants.

sights

For active people, Chemal has prepared attractions, located some distance from the village:

• Taldinskie caves, which are located near the village of Lime on the left bank of the Katun.
• Kamyshlinsky waterfall, formed at the confluence of the river Kamyshla in Katun.
• If you explore the late autumn attractions of Chemal, interesting places are on the Blue Lakes. They appear only in the autumn, when the Katun becomes shallow. Their distinctive feature is the amazing blue water. Local people claim that it treats eye diseases.

Places of interest of Chemal are its natural monuments, with which Altai has been so generously rewarded.

Legends of Chemal

As it often happens, legends are born on the site of real facts. So it happened with the story of the great man's love for a woman. A.V. Anokhin was a famous person in the Altai, the local population composed songs about him and called his name mountains and lakes. His love for a girl named Agnia and became the basis of the legend.

When the beloved Anokhin became sick with tuberculosis, he, knowing the medicinal properties of Chemal's air, brought her to this region. They rode a lot, hiked in the surrounding forests, and everything was fine until an accident occurred. During one of the walks the girl fell into the water and drowned.

Her body was found on the shore near an unnamed rock. The most surprising thing was that previously unremarkable sheer height suddenly became wet, as from tears. So people began to call it since then, the Crying Mountain in honor of the dead girl.

As the legend says, Anokhin buried his beloved in Chemal, a place where they were so well together. He put a beautiful monument with the angels on her grave, and the local say that the man swore never to marry anyone and fulfilled his promise.

Unfortunately, during the Soviet era, the monument and the grave were destroyed, and in the memory of the people about this story there was only Plach-Gora, visited by lovers, to ask the deceased girl for help in love.

Castles of Mountain Spirits

Another popular place visited by all the tourists in Chemal is the amazing creation of nature, called the Castles of Mountain Spirits in the people. The seen spectacle really fascinates: on a flat plateau there are vertical jagged rocks, reminiscent of the castle towers from a distance.

These rocks have long inspired a mystical horror of the local population. They said that in them there live spirits that make sounds that can kill a person. And these legends were confirmed by the cases when the rocks were found dead travelers without traces of violent death, decided to stop here for the night.

Scientists have found out that the rocks are located so that the wind created in them sounds of a certain frequency, they also killed people with their vibration. Part of the rocks exploded, the sounds disappeared, but interest and fear of the natural miracle remained. Therefore, tourists are constantly brought here.

Hostels

Modern tourist centers in the village appeared quite recently, but they also offer guests to improve their health, and not just enjoy the appearance of the region. In each of them there is organized not only a comfortable life, but also rich excursion programs in the neighborhood.

Many of them are located near the beaches on the Katun River in picturesque places, but whatever the attractions of Chemal, the description can not convey all the beauty and unique charm of this place. It is better to come and check everything personally, having experienced the healing air of Altai and the benevolence of its inhabitants.