Tere-Khol is a lake in the southeast of Tyva, Russia. It is
located in the Tere-Khol tectonic depression at an altitude of 1300
meters. The surface area of the lake is 39.1 km². The catchment
area is 295 km². Structurally, it is a rather large, but shallow
lake with a dozen islands.
From the lake flows the Saldam
River, the left tributary of the Balyktyg-Khem. The small rivers
Kholdzhukh-Tikh (from the northwest), the Bazherganak (from the
west), and the Kungur-Tuk (from the southeast) flow into the
Tere-Khol. There is an island on Tere-Khol, on which the remains of
the Uyghur fortress Por-Bazhyn of the 8th century AD have been
preserved. e. The island is connected to the southeastern shore of
the lake by a 1.3 km long pile footbridge.
The lake is part
of the Tere-Khol Lake nature monument.
In the 1970s - 1990s,
a fishing artel was located on the lake, carrying out small-scale
fishing for bream and pike.
The regional center of the
Tere-Khol region (kozhuun), the village of Kungurtug (Kungur-Tuk),
is located 6 km southeast of the lake.
Por-Bazhyn (Tuv. Por-Bazhyk, "clay house") - the
ruins of a fortress on an island in the middle of Lake Tere-Khol in
Tere-Khol kozhuun of the Tyva Republic (Russian Federation).
The construction of the fortress began in the summer of 777 during
the time of the third Uygur Kaganate (744–840 AD) during the reign
of the Begyu Kagan. The fortress has a rectangular shape with a
clear internal layout, which includes a central structure and a
system of courtyards with small buildings in the center along the
inner perimeter of the walls. In the center of the eastern wall
there was a gate with fortified towers. The fortress stretches 211
meters from west to east, 158 meters from north to south, the total
area of the fortress is 3.3 hectares, the height of the walls is
up to 9.5 meters. The complex with a labyrinthine structure of inner
walls occupies almost the entire area of the island on which it is
located. It still rises to 12m in height. The thickness of the outer
walls is more than 10 m. The buildings are built of adobe bricks.
The fortress is relatively well preserved due to its inaccessible
location and remoteness from transport routes. You can get to the
area of the fortress only by air or in a dry season by an off-road
vehicle.
Ancient roof tiles among the ruins of the Por-Bazhyn
fortress
The ruins of the fortress were discovered in 1891 by an
employee of the Minusinsk Museum, D.A.Klemenets. In 1957-1963, an
archaeological expedition was organized on the island, led by
Professor of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology of the
Russian Academy of Sciences Sevian Weinstein. In 1995, on the basis
of the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated
February 20, 1995 No. 176, the monument acquired the status of a
monument of federal significance under the name “Ancient Uigur
Fortress Porbazhin”, VIII-IX centuries AD "
In 2004, the
government of Tuva adopted a program for the development of culture
in Tuva for 2005-2010, within the framework of which it was planned
to create a fortress park "Por-Bazhyn".
On June 1, 2007,
under the auspices of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, an
archaeological expedition began work in Por-Bazhyn, during which an
attempt was made to restore the building of the temple (palace). The
expedition, in addition to archaeologists and employees of the
Ministry of Emergencies, is attended by students from various
Russian universities.
The archaeological field camp and the
island on which the fortress is located is connected by a pile
bridge. Its length is 1.3 kilometers. There are 38 technical
personnel and 21 units of auxiliary equipment in the camp.
On
August 13, 2007, Por-Bazhyn was visited by Russian President
Vladimir Putin and Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Por-Bazhyn
became known throughout the country thanks to the efforts of Sergei
Shoigu. For an archeological expedition to the ruins of the ancient
Uigur fortress, the Por-Bazhyn Fortress Cultural Foundation was
created. Its president is a well-known businessman and politician M.
V. Ignatova. This scientific project, in which more than a hundred
scientists of various specialties took part, also became an action
for the patriotic education of youth.