Karakol City Tour: Karakol was founded on July 1st, 1869, but the area had served as a military garrison since 1864. Most occupants were militia, merchants and explorers.

Pushkin Park This park is a hub for festivals and cultural events. There are several old amusement park rides built by the Soviets that are occasionally run on holidays such as Nooruz. The park also contains a grave of Bolshevik soldiers slain by the “Basmachi” during the Russian civil war, as well as a monument to the local Red Army soldiers killed in the Afghanistan conflict during the 1970s-80s. East of the stadium is the city’s zoo, one of the only zoos in Central Asia. It boasts a complement of birds of prey as well as llamas, Russian bears and Bactrian camels.

Holy Trinity Cathedral Before the cathedral was built, a yurt served as Karakol’s first church soon after the town was founded. Later, a stone church was built but fell down in an earthquake in 1890. In 1885, a wooden cathedral was completed, but after the Soviet revolution the domes were destroyed and the building was used as a disco-tech in the 1930s. Renovations were made to the cathedral in the 60s, but it wasn’t re-consecrated and used for services again until 1991 (and 1997) after the Soviet Union fell. Legend says that the icon of Mary shed tears as priests tried to protect the icon when the Bolsheviks took over the cathedral.

Dungan Mosque The mosque was built completely without nails from 1907 to 1910 by a Chinese architect and 20 Chinese artisans. It was built for the local Dungan community – the Dungans are Chinese muslims that immigrated to Kyrgyzstan and other Central Asian countries to escape religious persecutions. The mosque was closed from 1933 to 1943, but then the Soviets permitted worship services to continue.

Park Pobedy (Victory Park) This park, on the south-eastern side of town, is a monument to all the natives of Karakol and the Issyk-Kul region who fought and died in the Great Patriotic War against the Germans (World War II.) At the memorial is a statue of “Victory” holding a Soviet Sword aloft, flanked by two granite walls bearing the names of those who were killed in the fighting. The park also houses oversized busts of local war heroes and women who aided the war effort on the home front.

Przewalski Museum Nickolay P. was born on March 31st, 1839 in Smolensk. Since his father was an army officer, from the age of 7, P. was raised mostly by his mother and uncle, who often told traveling stories and took his nephew out on hunting trips. By the time P. turned 12, he often hunted by himself, in any weather, and was given one of his father’s rifles to hunt with.