Ayatskoye, the Seven Brothers and Tavatuy

Description

One day northwest of Yekaterinburg along the Serov highway: a large forest reservoir, outlier cliffs wrapped in legends, and the clearest lake near the city. The outermost points are barely thirty kilometres apart in a straight line, but set aside a full day: the Seven Brothers involve a real walking leg. Ayatskoye Lake greets you with an unusual colour of water — dark, tea-like: peaty banks and a silty bottom tint it. The water is shallow, about two metres on average, and the lake itself is man-made: in 1825 the Ayat River was dammed, and the water flooded several small ancient lakes. The banks have been inhabited since the Mesolithic — archaeologists even defined a distinct “Ayat culture” of the ancient Urals population after local sites. From Ayatskoye the road turns toward Semibratskaya hill, crowned by granite pillars — seven brothers on a common rock base with a Sister standing apart. Legends explain them differently: children of a cruel works manager petrified by their sister’s cry; gold-seeking brothers; giants guarding a Demidov treasure; wizards turned into cliffs by Yermak. The rocks appear on the coat of arms of Verkh-Neivinsk — as seven golden diamonds and an eighth silver one; an old Tavatuy road with the Semibratsky spring leads there from the dam near the town. The finale is Tavatuy, a lake with a tectonic basin and water clear to four or five metres — a rarity for the Urals. On the water are the hilly islands of Makaryonok and Golubev; on the shores, the settlements of Tavatuy and Kalinovo with beaches, kayaks and paddleboards. The water warms slowly, so the swimming season is short — but September on Tavatuy is quiet and full of mushrooms.