Spring, Altai Krai is the land of thousands of lakes, springs and mysterious caves. Near the endless steppes, forests rise, turn into mountains, and they are no longer visible beyond the horizon line. This is the heart of Eurasia and a UNESCO site, which the Altai Territory is immensely proud of. No wonder it is recognized as one of the best places on the planet for permanent residence and recreation. Remember with what love Vasily Shukshin spoke about his small homeland, Altai!
What is the glory of this region? Leading industries: mechanical engineering, developed agriculture and unique environmentally friendly products. All this is “helped” by a unique climate with its healing resources, mountain air and simply beautiful landscapes. Tourism is also developing, because for such a nature people come here from all over the world, sports institutions and sanatoriums are waiting for their guests all year round.
The Altai Territory is multifaceted, and it will give every tourist what he needs: someone adrenaline, and someone peace and quiet. This is the pearl of Russia, come here and see for yourself.
Lake Bolshoye Yarovoye
In the west of the Altai Territory, in the Kulunda steppe there is a salt lake, Bolshoye Yarovoye. It is called the most popular in Siberia, health-improving, thanks to the therapeutic mud. Every summer season, tourists from all over the country and nearby countries come here in order to improve their health. The resort town of Yarovoye is very close, and Slavgorod is 10 km away.
The shores of the lake became a tourist place about 50 years ago – the experience is solid. Then the first sanatorium with therapeutic mud was built here. For many years, the resources of the lake were not actively used, and such a recreational zone “shot” only in the 2000s.
Silt-sulfide mud of the lake helps with diseases of the respiratory system, musculoskeletal system, female genital area and neurology. Scientists have proved that the effectiveness of treatment is in no way inferior to the Dead Sea in Israel.
Salt water from the lake wash the nose and treat sinusitis and sinusitis, gargle, pre-diluted with clean water.
In 2004, they began to develop beach infrastructure and built 2 entertainment complexes. Residents of Siberia love to visit Yarovoye, and every summer the population of the village of the same name increases significantly, both families and youth companies come.
In summer, concerts and festivals are held at The Pier 22, famous artists and singers come. On the shore there is a lot of entertainment, including a water park. The café prepares a decent kebab, pilaf, dishes of European cuisine.
Please note that in the vicinity of the Big Spring Lake there is an unusual payment system for everything: neither cash nor bank cards will be useful, and on the spot you need to purchase a single payment card and replenish it. Take it with you, the main thing is that there is money on it.
Address: Yarovoye city, Altai Krai
Burial mounds of the Scythians, Sentelek village
Nowadays in the Altai Territory find many mounds, the age of the V century BC. Such places were destroyed and looted in ancient times, but many survived. Very interesting preserved mounds in the valleys of the rivers Charysh and Sentelek, the times of the Scythians. One of them is the Royal Mound, in which the Scythian leaders and kings were buried about 2500 years ago. Experts suggest that this mound was not only a burial place, but also an observatory, from where they observed the movement of stars and planets. It is noticed that the mounds were located in the form of a geometric figure: a circle was drawn, in it a regular square with graves at different depths. A stone mound was made around the mound, and the animals were buried only outside the circle. All this was built for several years. There is a version that these mounds were formed before the Scythians, and evidence of this is the stone slabs near them.
Unfortunately, someone tried to desecrate the mound, and the stone steles were displaced and even overwhelmed, planned to break the stones at the base.
The Royal Mound is a unique monument, and those who love antiquity will find a lot of interesting things here. In Altai, this is the only well-groomed archaeological site in the Altai, informative not only for amateurs, but also for scientists.
Archaeologists removed a meter-long cultural layer to restore the Tsar’s Mound, and during this they discovered other, smaller ones. Perhaps servants and the military were buried in them.
Address: Sentelek village, Altai Krai
Lake Teply Klyuch, Spring
Not far from the town of Spring is a small fresh lake. The size is really small: with a width of 50 m, its length is only 340 m, and the depth is from 3 to 7 m. I wonder if its origins are and how it feeds. From the bowels of the earth beat the keys that saturate the lake, so this name was given to him. Rain and snow certainly contribute their treasure, but not much. It is a great success that the Warm Key did not turn into a swamp, thanks to the constantly beating keys, and will exist for many more years.
Scientists suggest that on the site of the lake there was a river bed, but only a stream remained of it. By its nature, any channel is a kind of valley in which lakes can appear. So it happened with the Warm Key, and the lake “lives” springs.
Tourists may find it useful that the lake Warm Key is connected by an isthmus with no less famous Big Spring, and outwardly it looks quite interesting.
It turns out that in a small area at the same time there is fresh and salt water. Agree, vacationers are convenient: took wellness salt baths and immediately washed in the Warm Key!
In summer, it is interesting not only for adults, but also for children: there is a rental of “bananas”, “frogs”, water skis, and children can play in the children’s room under the supervision of educators. If you want to fish- please. In the waters of the Warm Key there are perch, crucian carp, carp and even crayfish.
Many tourists come with their tents or rent a place in a campsite.
Address: Yarovoye, Altai Krai, Russia
Tsarskaya Solonka Lake, Slavgorod city district, Bursol village
The lake received such an interesting name not by chance. The district of Slavgorod in the Altai Territory since the 18th century was known as the Siberian salt capital. They say that the quality of local salt was appreciated by Catherine II herself and ordered to have it on her table always. Such decrees from ancient times became the beginning of large industries. In the 19th century, salt was required even more, and the Burlinsky fishery flourished. In Soviet times, it was nationalized, although the methods of extraction and transportation were the most primitive. It was not before the 1940s that the process was mechanized, and railways became the main transport.
Now you can come to the Tsarskaya Solonka Lake and admire such a rich natural deposit: the salt content here is higher than in the Dead Sea, even in winter it does not freeze. The color of the surface is striking, because it is here, depending on the time of year, from pink to crimson, and under the rays of the sun it reaches lilac.
The “secret” of this phenomenon – the red algae Dunaniella – the only inhabitant of the reservoir. Along the coast there is a therapeutic slurry, in no way inferior to the mud of the Caucasus and the Crimea. If you want to go into the water with bare feet, beware of large salt crystals, you can get hurt. By the way, it is impossible to drown in the lake, but it is easy to burn in the sun, and all this is because of salt. Lake Bursolskoye or Tsarskaya solonka – the pride of Altai and Russia!
Address: Altai Krai, Slavgorod city district, Bursol village
Lake Maloye Yarovoye
This lake is the “younger brother” of the famous Patient Spring, 30 km from it. Its location is interesting – at an altitude of almost 100 m above sea level, and this is the village of Vladimirovka.
It is famous for its therapeutic mud and salt water, so the locals consider it their Dead Sea. There is an assumption that the Small Spring Lake, like many others in the area, is the remains of the ancient Tethys Ocean.
The lake is not small, but scientists have noticed the correct shape of the circle, while the average depth is only 2-5 m. On the banks you need to move carefully, they are steep and steep, in some places there are sandy shoals. The lake is surrounded by steppes, only with plants, without trees. The reservoir is so salty that only crustaceans live in it, they form therapeutic mud.
Tourists come here during April to November, but winter is quite harsh, in spring and autumn the weather can change dramatically.
As such, there are no equipped beaches on the lake, and therefore everyone comes with their tents or motorhomes. There is no developed infrastructure, but many people come to Maloye Yarovoye not for entertainment. Clean sparsely populated shore, even at the height of the holiday season, everyone will find places for swimming and sunbathing.
Address: Slavgorodsky District, Altai Krai
Museum of Nomadic Peoples
What else is interesting, in addition to beach and medical rest, is in Spring? Of course, interesting excursions. Recently opened the Museum of nomadic peoples, and he has already managed to fall in love with vacationers.
It is easy to find it, it is located in the center of Spring, on the square near the amusement park. Surprisingly, there will be no entrance fee, for admission to the territory it is enough to buy a souvenir at the entrance, it is pleasant and the memory of the place will remain.
You do not have to walk around the exposition yourself, at the entrance of tourists a guide meets and shares all the most interesting: the history of local peoples and the results of archaeological excavations. On the territory you can see several types of yurts: Buryat, Mongolian, Kyrgyz, Uzbek, Eskimo, etc.
Than a unique Altai yurt: they have walls of wooden lattices fastened with leather, there is a rich decoration, household items. Everything can be touched and taken photos, and clothes can be tried on.
The museum’s collection presents the life of ancient peoples, and you can see in detail baby cots, bedding, tools and musical instruments.
Wandering around such a village is pleasant, and if guests decide to do it without a guide, the signs will tell you how to get to the souvenir shop, workshops and the main attraction of the place – the Tea Yurt.
Tea yurt can be called a café only approximately, it is an authentic and interesting place. Guests are invited to try 12 varieties of tea and oriental sweets: rakhat-lukum, nougat, sorbet, halva and biscuits. Even napkins in a yurt are not simple, and the text of local anecdotes and legends about tea traditions is written on them. If you like the museum and the whole city so much, then there is a campsite nearby, which offers cozy rooms for everyone.
Address: Russia, Altai Krai, Yarovoye, amusement park square
Yarbat
Everyone who hears such a name immediately remembers the Moscow Arbat, and indeed, there is a connection between the two streets. In fact, Yarbat is Gagarin Street in Yarovy, and it is so similar in its “prototype” that the name came to mind by locals by itself.
Gagarin Street stretches along the coastline between berths 22 and 42.
Just like on the capital’s Arbat, here, in Yarovoye, there are many souvenir shops and just interesting entertainment: street performers, hoverboard rental, exotic animals, bungee flight and much more. Unusual sculptures of the local architect Alexander Kapralov are known not only in Yarovy, but throughout Siberia.
Many years ago, when Yarovoye was just becoming a resort, Gagarin Street was an ordinary, passing street, but over time it turned into a pedestrian one. It was not difficult to rename it, and now interesting people began to flock. There are artists here, but they are few, but there are enough singers, tattoo artists also sit.
Well, when in the city, large or small, there are such streets where you can just walk and relax your soul without thinking about anything, buy souvenirs and listen to live music.
Siberia has long ceased to be a distant and unexplored land, but no one doubts about its beauty and uniqueness. Thousands of tourists from other countries dream of visiting Siberia and getting to know the “mysterious Russian soul” better. In the Altai there are many healing lakes, which have not been heard of before, and not because they are little known. Perhaps they are simply not as advertised as the healing waters of the south, but absolutely not inferior in properties of dirt and water.
Welcome to Altai, to Spring!
Attractions Spring on map
