“Embassy Life” today offers readers to learn about the Heart of the Fan Mountains – Lake Iskanderkul. As part of our publications, we have already managed to tell about the “Sleeping Dragon” of the Pamir Mountains – a reservoir that fascinates with its secrets and views. The peculiarity of Iskanderkul is the beautiful legends that tell about its origin. The Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Russian Federation provides the following facts about the famous lake and the Iskanderdarya River flowing from it.
The heart of the Fann Mountains is the pearl of the Tien Shan — the picturesque Iskanderkul Lake. In shape, it resembles a triangle with an area of three and a half square kilometers and reaches a depth of seventy meters. The bluish-green water of the lake is quite cold, but it is quite possible to swim near the shores and in closed bays in summer. On all sides, huge snow-capped peaks, forming inaccessible cliffs in some places, surround it.
The stormy Iskanderdarya River flows out of the lake, which forms an unusually beautiful and majestic waterfall called the “Fann Niagara”, falling from a height of 38 meters.
There are many amazing legends associated with Iskanderkul Lake. According to one of them, Alexander the Great himself once passed through the Fan Mountains with his army. During the commander’s stay on the shores of the lake, Alexander’s favorite horse, Bucephalus, drowned. The lake itself owes its name to the great conqueror of antiquity — the name Alexander is pronounced Iskander in Central Asia. Another legend tells that in ancient times the same Alexander seized the rich lands of Sogdiana, a state then located in these parts. But the freedom-loving mountaineers did not put up with their sudden attacks, they all the time disturbed the Macedonian army. Then, the enraged Alexander ordered to dam the river on which the main city of the Sogdians stood, and the resulting lake forever buried the fortress and its brave defenders in its depths.
The electronic online publication “Embassy Life” expresses its gratitude To the Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan in the Russian Federation for the information and media files provided.
The material was collected and processed by Sofia Chernopyatova
