Issyk-Kul — the Sunken City

Issyk-Kul · Kirgizistan · Natural site

Beneath the mountain lake's surface rests a drowned city — legend says the lake was formed from the tears of girls whose home was swallowed as punishment.

The sacred lake of the Kyrgyz carries one of Central Asia's oldest doom legends: where the lake now lies once stood a splendid city, swallowed when water surged from a sealed well at its heart. A group of young girls gathering firewood in the mountains returned to find their home drowned, and from their hot tears the lake is said to have taken both its water and its name — the warm one. Fishermen have always spoken of walls and tolling bells beneath the surface, and in 2025 archaeologists confirmed that an entire medieval city at Toru-Aygyr truly lies on the lakebed, sunk by an earthquake.

FAQ

Wo befindet sich Issyk-Kul — the Sunken City?

Issyk-Kul — the Sunken City liegt in Issyk-Kul, Kirgizistan.