Sunken city and Islamic necropolis discovered by archaeologists!
A team of archaeologists has uncovered traces of an advanced medieval society in Lake Issyk-Kul. The ruins of a once-thriving Islamic community — along with everyday objects and a necropolis — shed light on how its inhabitants lived before their city was lost beneath the water.
Archaeologists have made an astonishing discovery in every sense among the mountains of eastern Kyrgyzstan: the remains of a flourishing medieval city lie hidden at the bottom of Lake Issyk-Kul. The settlement, known as Toru-Aygyr, was an important stop along the Silk Road until a 15th-century earthquake sent it beneath the waves, All That’s Interesting reports.
Buildings and period machinery brought to light
This autumn, researchers examined four separate sections of the lake’s shallower zones, at depths ranging from one to four metres. In the very first area, they uncovered several structures made of fired brick; one of them even contained a millstone, suggesting that grain was once ground at the site.
The function of another building is still uncertain, but finds indicate it may have been a mosque, a bathhouse, or an Islamic school — a madrasa. In addition to the buildings, stone tools and several wooden structures were recovered, the latter now undergoing radiocarbon and dendrochronological analysis.
Inhabitants followed Islamic burial traditions
In the second section, archaeologists discovered a 13th–14th-century Islamic necropolis, though the lake’s highly saline water has badly eroded it. Burial practices suggest adherence to Islamic tradition: the skeletons faced north, with their faces turned towards Mecca and the Kaaba. Two such skeletons — a man and a woman — were successfully recovered and will undergo further examination.
Medieval ceramics were found in the third area, while the fourth section contained the remains of circular and rectangular mudbrick structures. Together, these findings depict a well-organised medieval settlement that was likely an important commercial hub along the busy Silk Road.
A meeting point of many religions
To better understand the city’s history, researchers analysed medieval documents, which revealed that from the 10th century onwards, the power of the Karakhanid state strengthened in the region. Multiple religions — including Tengrism, Buddhism, and Nestorian Christianity — coexisted there.
Islam became widespread in the 13th century, partly due to the influence of the Golden Horde. The necropolis likely dates from this period.
Yet the settlement’s prosperity came to a sudden and dramatic end when a devastating earthquake in the early 15th century submerged the city beneath the lake. After the catastrophe, the region’s population changed significantly, and all traces of medieval urban civilisation vanished.
Sunken cities exist all over the world
Toru-Aygyr in Kyrgyzstan is not the only sunken city on Earth. Baiae, near Naples in Italy, is the world’s most accessible underwater settlement and once served as a luxury resort for wealthy citizens of the Roman Empire.
In Egypt’s Abu Qir Bay, the city of Thonis — known in Greek as Heracleion — was a bustling port that fell victim to several severe natural disasters in the 9th century. When it was rediscovered in 2000, archaeologists uncovered enormous statues and sphinxes; today it is one of the region’s most popular diving destinations.
China’s Shicheng, also known as the “Lion City,” is unique because it was intentionally submerged in 1959 during the construction of a dam. Over time, its existence was almost entirely forgotten, and it only returned to the spotlight after being rediscovered around the turn of the millennium. Since its lion-adorned buildings — and even its streets — survived almost intact, the site has attracted countless divers.
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