Lake Shira is located in a shallow intermontane depression in the
North-Minusinsk Basin 160 km northwest of Abakan. Freshwater Lake
Itkul is 4 km west of the lake, and Lake Belyo, the largest mineral
reservoir in Khakassia, is 9 km to the north. A rare combination of
dry steppe climate and lake air creates a unique, healing climate.
The shores of the Shire are treeless and only in the western
part there are small birch groves. The bottom of the lake rises in
ledges to gentle sandy shores that form comfortable beaches. In the
vicinity of Shir, there are a large number of commemorative steles
and menhirs.
The healing properties of lake water have become
widely known since the second half of the 19th century. It is
believed that the first scientific review was given by Academician
PS Pallas back in the 18th century. An active participant in the
establishment of the resort here was the Tomsk merchant-gold miner
ZM Tsibulsky. According to legend, Tsibulsky drew attention to the
fact that his dog, accidentally wounded by him while hunting near
the lake and left to a local resident to die while swimming in the
lake, healed his wounds and ran home completely healthy. Deciding to
check how healing the lake water is, Tsibulsky tried to heal his
chronic sciatica with baths and, indeed, got rid of the disease.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, a number of health resorts
have emerged on the shore of the lake.
According to Butanaev, Lake Shira, in the old transcription Lake
Shiro, comes from Khak. Syra köl - "medicinal lake". Korzukhin I. A.
defines the meaning in Russian as “iron lake”. According to the linguist
Katanov, Shira-kul means “yellow lake”, perhaps the general yellow color
around the lake served as the basis for the name, Lake Shiro lies in a
basin, surrounded by low treeless hills covered with sparse grassy
vegetation, yellow soil shines through from under the grassy cover of
the hills.
Geography
It is located in the northwestern part of
Khakassia on the right side of Bely Iyus, north of a high hilly ridge
running from the peaks of the Uibat to the banks of the Yenisei, in a
shallow intermountain depression in the North Minusinsk (Chulym-Yenisei)
basin, 340 km southwest of Krasnoyarsk, 160 km northwest of Abakan, 15
km east along the road from Shira station in the village of the same
name Shira, the center of the district. 4 km to the west of the lake is
the freshwater lake Itkul, 9 km to the north lies the largest mineral
reservoir of Khakassia - Lake Bele. And a number of lakes: Tustu-Kul,
Fyrkalovo, Matarakovo, Kyzyn-Kul, Bei-buluk, Red, Gorkoye, Duck, Dog,
Spirin, Shunet (more than 50). From the elevation of the Cross Mountain
near the Shire, one can see up to nine lakes, at a short distance from
each other. The valley of Lake Shira and its surrounding areas belongs
to a series of red Devonian strata.
The reservoir is surrounded
by forest-steppe with soft outlines of distant foothills. The banks of
the Shire are treeless and only in the western part there are small
birch groves. The bottom of the lake rises in ledges to gently sloping
sandy shores, forming comfortable beaches. A rare combination of dry
steppe climate and lake air creates a unique, healing climate.
The peculiarity of the geological origin and specific climatic
conditions predetermined a special scientific and educational interest
in this territory. The lake is one of the water bodies, the study of
which is the subject of international programs, on its shores there is a
scientific station of the Institute of Biophysics of the Siberian Branch
of the Russian Academy of Sciences. In the immediate vicinity are field,
training bases of the leading universities of Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk and
Novosibirsk. The results of many years of modern research on the
territory of the Lake Shira site in the Khakassky State Nature Reserve
were carried out and summarized by a team of authors in published
scientific materials.
On the western shore of the lake is the
village of Zhemchuzhny, with the sanatoriums of the Lake Shira Resort
located here.
In the vicinity of the Shir there are a large
number of memorial steles and menhirs. In the memoirs of N. N.
Martyanov, it is mentioned that the Tatars saw the ruins of houses and
walls at the bottom of the Shira Lake.
The area of the water mirror is 35.9 km². The catchment area is 1020
km². The length of the lake from northwest to southeast is 9.35 km, the
maximum width is 5.3 km. The length of the coastline is 24.5 km. Depths:
maximum depth - 24 m, average depth - 11 m.
Shira is a slightly
saline lake, despite the fact that the small river Son flows into it
from the southeast, the mouth of which is a swampy lowland. The
composition of lake water is slightly alkaline, sulfate-chloride,
sodium-calcium, with a high content of magnesium. Salt content
throughout the lake is not the same, the highest in the central part.
Research
For the first time, the bitter-salty lake Schiracul
(Shira-Kul) was described by Academician P. S. Pallas, who traveled
around Siberia (1771-1772), back in the 18th century. The healing
properties of lake water have become widely known since the second half
of the 19th century; local residents have long known about its healing
properties and considered it sacred. According to Klements D.A., before
the formation of the resort, the lake was in the possession of the Tatar
Thorin.
An active participant in the establishment of the resort
was the Tomsk gold merchant Z. M. Tsibulsky in 1873. According to
legend, Tsibulsky drew attention to the fact that his dog, accidentally
wounded by him while hunting near a lake and left to a local resident to
die, swimming in the lake, healed his wounds and herself came home
completely healthy. Deciding to check how healing the lake water is,
Cybulsky tried to treat his chronic sciatica with baths and, indeed, got
rid of the disease.
Since the end of the 19th century, the study
of the chemical composition of the mineral lakes of the Shirinsky basin
was carried out by the doctor S. Ya. (1889) professor Meller (1877), E.
A. Leman (1890), pharmacologist professor P. V. Burzhinsky and chemist
geologist professor S. Zalesky (1892), E. V. Werner (1895), doctor V. M.
Krutovsky (1896), on the recommendation of the Military Medical
Inspector of the Siberian Military District, Privy Councilor E. P.
Kazansky research was conducted by N. S. Kastorsky (1907), F. V. Ludwig
(1903), D. P. Turbaba (1904) and determined the healing properties of
the water of Lake Shira. Shirinskaya water is more accurately attributed
to at least two: alkaline-Glauber and bitter sources, according to the
content of magnesia sulphate, the water of the lake should be attributed
to the famous “bitter waters” of Franz Josef and Guniyadi-Janos. Near
Lake Shira is Lake Shunet with saturated brine and mineral mud.
Lake Shira is drainless and, as a result, accumulates pollutants that
enter it with surface runoff, as well as those brought by the river
flowing into it and atmospheric precipitation. Comprehensive studies on
the territory of the Lake Shira site commissioned by the State Nature
Reserve Khakassky showed that organic pollution of the waters of Lake
Shira is a typical picture characteristic of areas with a moderate
anthropogenic load, and reflects the state of the zone actively used for
recreational purposes. The waters near the resort complex are moderately
polluted. The content of the main organic impurities does not exceed the
MPC values for reservoirs of general cultural and economic purpose, but
the concentrations of some organic substances found in water samples are
quite high and indicate an unfavorable environmental situation.
On February 1, 1891, Lake Shira in the Minusinsk district became a
resort and the construction of state and private buildings began here.
Staying on the lake was expensive, and therefore only wealthy people
came here for treatment - officials, merchants, soldiers, clergy,
nobles, philistine homeowners and wealthy peasants.
In 1892,
Vasily Ivanovich Surikov made a large number of sketches and sketches in
the vicinity of Lake Shira in the summer. In 1894, while working on the
painting "The Conquest of Siberia by Yermak" in the summer, Vasily
Ivanovich Surikov traveled to Siberia along the Ob, the Yenisei and Lake
Shira.
In 1895, a Shelter for Poor Patients was opened on Lake
Shira with funds raised in part by holding musical evenings. The writer
of the city of Tomsk, A. N. Shipitsin, was an ardent initiator of this
work. Gold miner I. M. Ivanitsky donated the largest yurt, which was
moved to the shore, repaired, divided into 5 rooms for 20 people. The
shelter had a kitchen, a cellar and a bathhouse. Poor patients received
lighting, food, bedding, baths, baths, medicines, and even koumiss and
massages from the shelter.
In 1897-1998, at the initiative of the
committee of the shelter for the poor, the first bathroom building was
opened, available to everyone for a fee (35 kopecks). It consisted of a
reception room, two corridors and 10 small bathrooms.
In 1898, a
resort was opened on the lake on the recommendation of the doctor A. G.
Kurkutov and V. M. Krutovsky, public figure I. T. Savenkov, and
gradually the deserted shores of the lake turned into a comfortable
resort.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, a number of
health resorts have been established on the shores of the lake. On the
southwestern shore of the lake there is a hydropathic ulus, in which
there are rooms for visiting patients, baths and other buildings, since
the lake was declared hydropathic and recognized as a resort, for the
construction of which in 1901 the government allocated money. In the
ulus there are private houses, Tatar yurts, shops, a small church, a
hotel, kitchen and other buildings. At that time, the most convenient
way to Lake Shira was through Krasnoyarsk. From Krasnoyarsk along the
Yenisei to the Bateni pier they went on steamboats. The Batenevskaya
pier was located three versts above the village of Bateni. For a long
time there was no house on this pier to wait for the steamer, and
visitors to the resort went out and carried their luggage ashore under
the open sky. On the wharf, the State Property Administration built a
guest house in the semi-mountain. In addition, there is a country road
from the Itat station of the Siberian Railway, which is used by those
traveling to the Shira from the Tomsk Province.
The doctor's
reception room was located in the bathroom building of the Shirinsky
resort. Baths were not released without the doctor's permission. The
doctor examined the sick and gave a ticket or a note that the patient
did not suffer from contagious diseases. When visiting the bathroom
building, queues were established, a list of which was posted in the
reception room of the bathroom building. Mud was mined from Lake Shunet,
which was used for baths and rubbing. It was mined from the bottom of
the lake. Mineral mud - soft, greasy, black in color, with a strong
smell of hydrogen sulfide, was brought in barrels to Lake Shira and
released for treatment at 10 kopecks per bucket. Some patients, who have
strong, healthy skin, enhanced the effect of bathing in the lake by
preliminary rubbing with Shirinskaya clay. She rubbed the whole body or
only sore spots. Then they sat in the sun for a while, and then they
bathed. For the same purpose, some patients made compresses from clay or
water.
Doctors advised all patients to spend more time outdoors
and take at least short walks around the neighborhood. Vacationers
walked on foot to the "Stone Log", to the mounds, to the koumiss, to the
Karysh River, were fond of duck hunting, had fun boating, fishing,
riding horses and in carriages - to Lake Itkul. For the entertainment of
visitors to the resort, there were several pillars for the game of
"giant steps". A playground was provided for children. For adults, a
playground for playing lawn tennis, croquet, for which a special fee was
taken by the hour. Vacationers staged performances and dance evenings.
M. V. Krasnozhenova from the Krasnoyarsk Society of Dramatic Art Lovers
was the initiator of staging children's performances when she herself
was relaxing on the lake. The money went to the maintenance of a
sanatorium for teachers of the Yenisei Society.
The sanatorium for teachers on Lake Shira arose on the initiative of
V. T. Zimin, who donated 600 rubles for the construction. By July 6,
1903, the building was ready, and on July 19 the sanatorium was opened.
It was designed for 30 people. In 1903, 12 teachers were treated and
rested.
Water from Lake Shira was used only as a medicine. For
ordinary drinking, cooking, for samovars, it was completely unsuitable,
since it tastes bitter-salty and leaves a white precipitate during
evaporation. Water for drinking and washing was delivered from wells,
which were located 1.5 versts from the lake, by the Tatars Torinovs on
horseback in barrels, 70 kopecks - 1 ruble per person per season. Fresh
water was also brought from Lake Itkul. In the early 1900s, a fresh
water pipeline from this lake was built.
Every year, several
experienced koumiss Tatars came to the resorts of Lake Shira, who
settled two versts from the resort (near wells) and annually delivered
koumiss to visitors at 20 kopecks per bottle. Climatic conditions on
Lake Shira were favorable for koumiss treatment. Koumiss is a drink made
from mare's milk and is a product of alcoholic and lactic acid
fermentation. The use of koumiss for medicinal purposes in Siberia began
in the 70s of the XIX century. Treatment was carried out under the
supervision of a physician.
Visitors to the lake who did not use
their own table received lunch, dinner and boiling water in samovars
from the kitchens. During the season, more than 10 of them were opened.
In the morning and in the evening, cookies and milk were given to the
samovar, at noon - meat pies, curd cheesecakes or pancakes. At will, it
was possible to get dishes prepared both in oil and in water. The
kitchens were located in the center of the resort village. Their device
was no different from the device of the kitchens of individual
households. Type of building - wooden huts with small windows. The main
entrepreneurs on the lake were Lavrova, Galin, Volzhinsky, Arnautova,
Yakovleva, who kept kitchens. Lunch, breakfast and bread were sold from
the kitchen for 18-25 rubles a month.
Visitors to Lake Shira used
the services of a laundress who lived on the lake during the seasons.
The laundry fee ranged from 5 to 10 kopecks apiece. Washerwomen lived in
difficult conditions, huddling in booths where clothes were washed and
dried.
Along with the village more or less comfortable on Lake
Shira, two more independent villages were formed near it: "Working
Slobidka", in which there were about 50 buildings - booths, and the
Ivanitsky ulus, numbering about 25 yurts (data for 1903). The
predominant type of buildings on Lake Shira were yurts and booths, in
which workers and small merchants lived. Usually such buildings were
small in size for 2-3 people. The role of the booth was reduced mainly
to the fact that they slept and hid in it in inclement weather. There
were no floors and windows in this kind of buildings. The booths were
rented from the owners for hire: the average cost of a booth is 10
rubles. The inhabitants of the booths, the workers, did not use the
table from the common kitchen, but cooked their own food on small stoves
- chuvals arranged around. Instead, a stone slab was laid, which was
also lined with slabs from the sides and back in such a way that several
holes were formed - the back one for the exit of smoke. This hole was
lined with small slabs, and a small pipe was obtained. In other holes,
food was cooked in special vessels. Ordinary clay was used to fasten the
plates. Such a furnace was usually located in the open air.
Occasionally, sheds were made of bark or birch bark. The furnace was not
durable, as it was washed away by rains and collapsed.
In 1927,
on the initiative of V.S. Pirussky, the first Siberian sanatorium
pioneer camp was opened, even earlier, in 1925, he opened a department
of motutherapy (healing movement) here.
Konstantin Nikolayevich
Zavadovsky Professor of the Department of Nervous and Mental Diseases
(1920-1928), Propaedeutic Clinic of Internal Diseases (1938-1950),
Physiotherapy and Balneology (1928-1938) of the Medical Faculty of Tomsk
State University and the Faculty of Medicine of the Tomsk Medical
Institute took an active part in the organization of the Shira resort .
In the 1920s, together with professors I. A. Valedinsky, M. G. Kurlov,
P. P. Orlov, he participated in research expeditions to study the Shira
resort, in 1936-1941 he carried out scientific management of the Shira
resort.
Academician Yablokov Dmitry Dmitrievich was a consultant
and scientific director of the Shira resort.