Turgoyak

Turgoyak is a large fresh lake in the Chelyabinsk region near the city of Miass. Water in the lake is considered the second after Baikal in its purity and transparency.

There are several versions of the origin of the name of the lake, the most convincing of them is that the lake was formerly called "Turge Yak Kul", which is translated from Bashkir as "lake on a hill". In general, this is true, because the lake is sandwiched between mountain ranges and is located on a hill. According to another version, the name of the lake came from the legend of the love of a guy Tour and a girl named Goyak. The girl was clamped by a witch and in order to remove her spell she had to wash her eyes with water from Baikal. the guy Tour found out about this and brought water. The girl washed her eyes and saw her sight, and a lake formed from the drops, pure as Lake Baikal.

The average depth of the lake is almost 20 meters, the maximum is 36.5 meters. The area of the lake is 26.5 km2. The water in the lake is one of the cleanest, so you can see the subject at a distance of 10-17 meters. The water level in Turgoyak is changing very much, differences can be up to 2.5 meters. In this case, you can see 12 instead of 10 islands on the lake.

One of the most famous islands is the island of Vera, which is shrouded in many legends. It is believed that the island was named after the hermit who lived on it, he is also called Pinaevsky, since one of the associates of Pugachev was hiding on it. According to the traditions, the Old Believers and monks hid on the island, who built stone cells for themselves. But archaeological excavations showed that stone dugouts have existed here for quite some time, and the island has been used to worship the gods for several millennia. In the southwestern part of the island, a parking lot of Neanderthals, a chapel of the Old Believers, megalite were found. Stone plates ( megats ) hard not to notice. The largest plate reaches almost 20 meters in length, and the heaviest weighs about 17 tons. There are also stones similar to animals. According to scientists, a lot of archaeological finds are hidden at the bottom of Lake Turgoyak, with a low water level, the island of Vera becomes a peninsula.

The historical findings of Lake Turgoyak are very valuable, so the question of the foundation of a museum on the open sky on the island for the regulated entrance and preservation of cultural monuments is being decided.

Two hundred meters from Turgoyak there is another Inyshko lake, which has a double bottom - ordinary and peat from above. One of the legends is associated with this. At the lake used to be the camp of Emelyan Pugachev. The rich decided to appease Emelyan and collected 2 barrels of gold for him. But the governor did not accept the gift and the order to throw the barrels into the lake, they sold the peat bottom and fell down. Local residents say they are still stored at the bottom.

On Lake Turgoyak there is everything for the development of tourism, for this, many recreation centers and boarding houses have been built on the shores. The lake will be a great place to relax in nature.