Kazygurt Holy Mount
Kazakhstan Mountains Waterfalls and Peaks. Kazakhstan mountain districts

Holy scripts (Zabur, Taurat, Inzhil, and the Koran) contain a myth about a righteous person named Nukhepaigambar (Noah in Christianity). In an epochal act he saved himself, his whole family and fauna specimens from the Flood. Warned by the Lord, he constructed an enormous ark (kerne) where he placed "a pair of each animal".

According to ancient legends, at the time of the Flood, Noah's Ark (Nukhpaigambar) stopped at theAlZhudi Mount in Arabia, the Ararat Mount in the Caucasus, Sinai in Palestine, and the Kazygurt Mount in Kazakhstan.

The legendary place is (40 km from Shymkent) in the spurs of the Talass Alatau (western ridge of the Tien-Shan mountains). People have preserved about 50 legends about the mountain's holiness. People believe the place where the Ark stopped is still visible on the mountain. Locals call it "Kerne Kalgan" (Place of Noah's Ark). Amazingly, the size of "the local ark" is the same as in the descrip­tion in one of the holy scripts, "The length of the ark three hundred cubits (150 m.), its width fifty cubits (25 m.), and its height thirty cubits (15 m.)".

The mountain has the second summit where another mystical thing was found: an equilateral cross made of stones. Its diameter is 100 meters; the length of crossing bars is 38 meters. There are several versions of the origin of that unusual "sign". Some resear­chers relate it to prophet Zarathustra. The huge cross made of stones may have been made with a ritual purpose by Zoroastrians, followers of the teaching of Zarathustra. According to other versions, similar crosses - signs of Tengri, god of the sky - were made several centuries before Christ in the Altai, which was an ancient homeland of the Turki.

There are a lot of other tales about unusual properties of this place. Saint Akbura-Ata lived at the foot of the Kazygurt Mount. He called people to believe in one God. He treated them with herbs, prophesied, and had other supernatural abilities. The Shilter-Ata nature complex is also cited among holy places. Ata-Ana rock symbolizes the forbearers of the human race Adam and Eve. Two 33 meter high rocks have a passage in between through which only a godly person may go. In Shilter-Ata there are stone statues of animals described in holy books. The area of the Kazygurt national park seems to have a supernatural aura.

Adam and Eve rock

33 archeological monuments have been found in the Kazygurt mountains and in their proximity. The bulk is located in upper reaches of the Keles river and its inflows. The Great Silk Road went through Kazygurt. From here the shortest routes to Uzbekistan, ancient Tashkent, Bukhara, Khiva, and Samarkand start. 3,000 year old Sairam (Ispidjab) is located in 20-30 kilometers from the Kazygurt Mount. In Sairam, an unusual underground construction was discovered (VI-VIII cc). Scientists think it is a Buddha temple. According to some written sources, Turbat settlement (XII-XVII cc.) and Sharapkhana (VI-XVI cc.) are nothing but the ancient city of Gazgird. Legends (ordabasy) mention this place in connection with the Jungar invasion.

The nature in this region is rich and splendid. Close by, Aksu-Dzhabagly, one of the first nature preserves in Kazakhstan (founded inl926), is situated. In 1934, it was awarded status of a UNESCO biosphere preserve.

This place is a symbol of unity and spiritual revival of nations.

In 20-30 km from the Kazygurt Mount the following sites are located: Sharapkhana settlement (VI-XVI cc), Turbat settlement (XI-XIX cc.) Ismail-ata (XI-XIXcc.) and Isakhan-ata (XI-XII cc.) and Ibragim-ata, Karashash-ana, and Mariyam-ana architectural complexes in Sairam (Ispidjab)

In the near future, the top of the Kazygurt Mount will be decorated with a monument. Kazakh architects have designed a monument consisting of a light color and a dark color part. The light overground part will be in the form of three large sails set under different angles. A wide staircase will lead to the dark underground part. It will imitate an excavation site with the Ark's bow and left board with oars emerging from the soil.

Joint project of OrexCA.com and KTA and KAGIR. Information is taken from CD "All about tourism in Kazakhstan"