 Sightseeing
Besides the above-mentioned sights of nature, history and spiritualism, other ones wait for every inquisitive pilgrim:
1) In Turunda a pilgrim can admire and investigate old barrows, fences and stone carved images.
2) Kucherla offers tourists beautiful appearances of petroglifs. By the way, lovers of archaeology and ethnography can visit archaeological and grotto complexes in the adjacent regions of Ust-Kan and Kosh-Agach. (Denis, White Stone, Kurman-Tan, Jaltys and others of Scythian, Hun, Sarmat and Turkic cultures). There are many beautiful traces and sights of history.
3) In the village named Upper Uimon our pilgrims can see the unique ”Old-Believers’” Museum. The museum is about the history of the movement, ’modus vivendi’ and the rites of these ”old-believers”, called in Altay ”Kerzhakhs”.
4) In the same village there is Museum of Nicholas Roerich. Nicholas Roerich, Helen Roerich and George Roerich, as the stage of the five-year Central Asian Research Expedition, on August 1-24, 1926 visited the Mountains of Altai. During these days they ascended the Mount Belukha and left their ’spiritual magnetism’ in our parts. After this Expedition Nicholas Roerich published his book, ”Altay - Himalaya”.
5) The ”Katun” State Nature Reserve, a large part of which being found on the territory of our region, makes up 150 thousand hectares. In the reserve, there are the most significant glaciers to ascend. For our guests, many winter and summer kinds of sports (rafting, glacier ascents, skiing, shooting, hunting etc.) are available.
6) A tourist can attend the deer-breeding farm. This farm is actually the largest in Siberia!
7) Near the Katanda village, there is a wonderful place of nature called ”crying stones”. Well, you’d better see the place instead of reading some blank lines describing it.
8) In fact, The Mountains of Altai are considered to be a kind of Kingdom of Myths and Legends. One of them have been mentioned before, the Uch Sumer Myth (Su-Meru originated from the Sanskrit). The more to know are: World’s creation, Heroes of Katun, Masters of Mountains, the Miracle of Altai etc. Every big cavern has at least a legend about it, so just come to get to know them.
9) The Helen Roerich Public library. This place and its owner are to be seen and to be known. The name of this exceptional devotee of culture and science is Leonid Kaloshin, a military pensioner, a pilot by his former trade. On his own, he constructed the house for the library (3 rooms of 60 square metres total) and for the last 10 years has been able to collect about 40 thousand books on different subjects from various towns of Russia. The majority of books are well-known works by Helen Blavatsky, Roerichs, their closest disciples, some ancient works by Great Thinkers of the East. According to the words of one of local teachers, this library is one of the best libraries in the Altai Republic.
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