The highest mountain in the vicinity of Yekaterinburg (726.2 m). 15 km long. It is a stratotype, as well as the highest point of the Konovalovsky Uval. The height of the rocks is 25-40 m from the west, 60-70 m from the east, the age is more than 600 million years. The mountain is mostly forested, with the exception of the summit and a number of adjacent rocks. By the nature of the soils and vegetation cover, the territory of this mountain range with the adjacent lands belongs to the taiga zone, its southern subzone.

In winter, it is always very snowy and picturesque here. The mountain is poorly visible from the wooded surroundings and it can be difficult to find it without knowing the exact landmarks. The route is very exciting and difficult for vehicles to pass. Shunut-Kamen is very popular and is often visited by amateurs of the Ural nature on foot. Near Shunut-Kamen there is a healing radon source of Platonides, which has an interesting history.

Such a legend has come down to our time.

Twin brothers were born in one Bashkir family. They grew up quickly. And then one day in a child's play, a heap-small was formed. One of the brothers injured his spine, which caused a hump to grow, and he remained small in stature. But the other brother grew up to the clouds and began to defend his people from enemies. When large tribes of conquerors approached, the big brother turned into a fiery creature, similar to a man, and sent flashing lightning to the strangers. The ill-wishers fled from fear without looking back. This is how the giant was called Shunut (“shun” - a creature, “ut” - fire). The legend is confirmed by the name of the river Ik, running from Shunut.

At one time, Kalmyks were among the opponents of the Bashkirs. Seeing Shunut, they shouted: “Ik is coming! Save yourself! " In Kalmyk, which is one of the Mongolian languages, ik means big, great. The Kalmyks took water from the river and set off on their way back without fear of Shunut's fiery arrows. So the river began to be called Ik, as the place of residence of the giant Shunut. Although the Ik river itself is small. So for many centuries Shunut protected his people from enemies. But still, the giant was punished for the fact that people died from his forces. He lost sleep, toiled from severe pain throughout his body. Death alone could defeat his illness. And only the hand of a relative could take his life. But the mother and father died long ago. All hope remained in the dwarf brother. But he was very fond of Shunut and did not agree to his murder. The giant tried to persuade his brother for a long time. In the end, the hunchback decided to fulfill Shunut's request, but on the condition that, having moved to another state, he would still help people, he would take away their diseases from people.

The giant lay down on the ground, and the younger brother cut off Shunut's head with a sword. When you climb Shunut, you get the feeling that you will raise your hand and reach the clouds. And at the foot of Shunut, a healing radon source sprang up. The spring water from the slope after a few meters falls into the Ik river. Many began to feel more cheerful after bathing in this source.

All events taking place at the mineral spring are closely watched by the head of Shunut. Over time, stones also age. The giant's head became like the face of an old man, so whoever calls the rock what: either the Old Man-Stone (on geographical maps), then the Shunut's Head, sometimes just an old man in a cap. A magnificent view of Shunut and its surroundings opens from the top.

In recent times, these places were chosen by the Old Believers. Their sketes were located here. And the place near the healing spring is called Platonida - after the monastic name of a woman of the old faith, buried near the source.

The Stone appeared on Mount Shunut in October 2010. The four of us walked. The weather was very good and sunny. However, it was already October outside and it was pretty cool. There were already frosts.

You can get to Shunut like this. From Yekaterinburg we take an electric train to Revda (railway station). And you have to go in the morning, because then a bus leaves from the Revda station to the village of Krasnoyar at 9:10 (if I'm not mistaken), and the next bus will be only at 2 pm. It is very tiring to wait all this time at the station and therefore you decide to take a taxi, which will ask you for 300-350 rubles. By the way, there are about 17-18 taxi companies in the city of Revda. So it's better to get up early and take the bus.

We arrived at Krasnoyar. You can go to Shunut by different paths. We followed the road leading to the village of Lavrovka. It starts right behind the bus stop. Those. not to the left of him, but behind him.

As you reach the intersection of the road with the Ik River (the river passes through a pipe), after a few meters there will be a turn right- you go there! You will reach a field on which you may see a pointer, if it has not been broken. Here you go along the forest road and go out to the tract "Platonida".

I will not describe the legends about this place, look better on the Internet. I will only say that the tract consists of 4 Old Believer graves, a dugout on the banks of the Maly Ik River and an equipped spring. In the photo - the grave of Platonida, or rather, just a monument, but her remains seem to be not there. You will see more details about this place in another report.

It's a sweet thing to visit this place! Drink and get some good spring water. Sit, relax. We did not stay here for a long time and went further - to the Old Man Stone. You need to go to the Old Man Stone along this road (which is in the photo below). Then you come to a fork, a T-junction - and there you have to turn left.

Then the road turns to the right (without other turns), go all the time along the main one until, on the right, you accidentally stumble upon this:

Shunut is seen in the distance.

We didn’t stay on the Old Stone for a long time either, for it’s autumn, it gets dark early - we need to stomp on the main attraction of these places - Mount Shunut Stone. This is what we met on the way. Well, straight a horror movie of some kind.

You need to go to Shunut along the same road. When you reach the fold to Platonis, then do not turn off, but go straight ahead. Until then (you have time to get tired), until you see a swerve to the left - a primer with a car track. Go there, up the hill, about 3-4 km. It will be hot, I guarantee! This is the most difficult part of the entire trip! Follow the path until you reach the turn, then turn right - you will reach a spring. There, I think, you will not get lost already.

Behind Revda, not far from the village of Mariinsk, there are many natural attractions. The most famous of them are Mount Shunut, the Old Man-stone rock and the source of St. Platonis. These places are often visited by tourists from Pervouralsk, Yekaterinburg, Revda and other cities of the Sverdlovsk region. They say - it's wonderful there!

Lovers of off-road driving in their cars drive up to the very foot of Shunut. And then on foot climb to the top of the mountain.

I am always looking forward to this trip, because we are going to Shunut among friends and like-minded people, lovers of tourism, - says a friend of the editorial staff of the Gorodskievesti.ru portal Yuri. He lives in Yekaterinburg and loves to travel. - Shunut - these are magnificent views from the top of the mountain, an interesting road that requires efforts from the entire car crew, and, of course, an evening bonfire, funny conversations and stories.

Mount Shunut, or Shunut-stone- the main peak of the Konovalovsky Uval. According to the portal "Uraloved.ru", Shunut is the highest mountain in the vicinity of Yekaterinburg. Its height is 726 meters above sea level.

Historians think that the name "Shunut" came from two words: the Mansi shun - "creature" and the Bashkir ut - "fire". It is possible that signal fires were once burned on this high mountain to signal the impending danger. According to another version, the ancient inhabitants of these places performed sacred rituals on the mountain.

There is also a legend about Mount Shunut. A long time ago, twin brothers grew up in these places. They often quarreled among themselves. In another scuffle, one of his brothers was injured in the spine, which is why he remained a humpback dwarf for the rest of his life. But the second brother grew up a giant, whose head reached the clouds. Of course, with such growth, he possessed heroic strength and defended his people from foreigners. For the fact that he turned into a creature that spewed out lightning, they called the giant Shunut.

Once Shunut became very ill. This was the punishment for interrupting many lives. According to legend, one of the relatives was supposed to save Shunut from suffering and kill him. Of his own blood, Shunut only had a crippled brother. He agreed to murder only on one condition - that even after his death, his brother would help people. According to legend, Shunut fulfilled his promise: it is believed that if you climb to the top of the mountain and “touch the clouds with your hands,” you can get rid of many diseases.

According to the same legend, Shunut lay down on the ground, his twin brother cut off his head with a sword. The severed head rolled back and turned to stone. Now this place is called the Old Man-Stone.

Rock the Old Man-stone located four kilometers south of Shunut. The height of the Old Man is 648.1 meters above sea level. The Old Man-Stone got its name for the outlines that resemble a human face.

Not far from the Old Man-stone there is another attraction - the source of Saint Platonis... This hydrological natural monument is located about 10-12 kilometers from the village of Krasnoyar. It is believed that the water from the source (it contains radon) has healing properties.

There are many legends about the source of St. Platonis. According to one of them, a long time ago from the village of Krasnoyar, a woman named Platonida left to live in a deep forest. For many years she lived at the holy spring, thanks to which she managed to maintain strength and health. The source was named in honor of Platonida. They buried Platonida there, in the forest. Pilgrims began to come to her grave.

According to the second legend, a girl from a wealthy family fell in love with a poor man. But Platonida's father decided to marry his daughter to a wealthy peasant. Then the girl fled from her native place and settled in the forest near Krasnoyar. At this time, her beloved walked around the Urals in search of his bride. Once, exhausted, he sat down on the bank of a small river and turned to stone. People called this stone the Old Man. And Platonida lived for many years on the banks of the same river and secretly helped people.

Another legend. A girl from a Tatar family decided to convert to Orthodoxy. On the eve of her wedding, she fled and settled in a convent, where she received the name Platonides. With her prayers in the forest not far from the skete, a healing spring was filled.

And the fourth legend about the source of St. Platonis. After the death of her parents, a girl from a family of Old Believers was taken to the forest by her brothers - so as not to share the inheritance with her. After 40 (!) Years, the brothers were tortured by conscience and, considering their sister dead, they came to the skete, where they abandoned her. There they found Platonis in perfect health, besides still young and beautiful. All because Platonida drank water and washed herself in a healing spring, next to which she lived.

How to get there

From Pervouralsk, take the Perm-Yekaterinburg highway, head towards Revda, drive through the city. One and a half kilometers before the village of Mariinsk, turn right onto a forest road. Further, if you go straight, you will get to Shunut. If you turn left - onto Platonis. The Old Man-stone rock is located between Platonis and Shunut.

Coordinates

• Mount Shunut - N 56 ° 31'23 ", E 59 ° 44'09"
• The source of the holy Platonida - N 56 ° 30'18 "; E 59 ° 47'19 "
• Rock Starik-stone - N 56 ° 29.122 ′ E 59 ° 45.346 ′

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Shunut-stone is a mountain on the border of Nizhneserginsky and Revdinsky districts. It is located in the very center of the Konovalovsko-Ufaleisky ridge, which forms the main watershed in this part of the Middle Urals. Shunut rocky outcrop is one of the most powerful in the Middle Urals. This is a strip of rocks 60-70 meters high, stretching for five kilometers. The rock is about 800 million years old. This is one of the significant and picturesque rock outcrops in the Middle Urals. The area of ​​the security zone is 3620 hectares.

At the very top of Shunut's head, there is a view for which it is worth knocking off your legs to get there. Distance from Revda - 41 km, from the village of Mariinsk - 16 km. Photo // mytravelbook.org

The height of Shunut according to different maps has a slight discrepancy. It depends on the year of their release and the improvement of the identification system. Perhaps this is due to elements of national security - for the error in reading the terrain at the cruise missile. This is only a version that cannot be completely ruled out. In some sources, Shunut's height is 724 or 732 meters. But the height of the mountain is considered to be 726 meters "as a basis". This is the highest point in the Western Administrative District. The mountain is famous for strong winds, mainly from western and northern directions.

Why Shunut?

What the name means is still unknown. In the reference book "Geographical Names of the Sverdlovsk Region" by A.K. Matveev, there is no definite toponymic explanation. The Middle Urals represented and still represents the neighborhood of various nationalities. But there is no clear interpretation of the name of the mountain in any language. There is a version that the name "Shunut" consists of two words: "Shun" (Mansi - a creature) and "Ut" or "Ud" (Turkic - fire). That is, the hybrid phrase mountain can be interpreted as the Being (Spirit) of Fire.

Perhaps the ancient inhabitants of these places performed some ritual actions on the mountain. That is, it was an altar or sanctuary revered by people for cult pagan rites. Perhaps the ancient people used the Shunut Upland as a sentry place - they warned of a sudden attack by foreigners with fire.

However, in the same reference book by A.K. Matveyev says that "in a number of geological works of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, instead of the name Shunut-stone, the White Stone appears, perhaps for the light color of the rocks." And "shun" in Mansi is not a "creature" at all, but "sleigh", "sledges". Then how to connect the Türkic "ut" - fire with this? Fire cart, chariot? Again a dead end.

Tower of Babel by Pieter Bruegel

Any elevated place, especially mountains, had a symbolic meaning for all ancient peoples. It was believed that the mountain connects the divine world with the world of people - Heaven and Earth. As, for example, Olympus among the ancient Greeks, among the Babylonians - seven-story ziggurats, representing a cosmic mountain - seven floors corresponded to the seven heavens, along which seven planets move. And the pyramid, mountain or hill among the Egyptians was personified as the place of birth, rebirth and resurrection. Climbing a mountain is the path of the gods, an ascent from darkness to light.

What the scriptures teach about mountains

There are a lot of texts related to the symbolism of the mountains. For example, just a small fraction. According to the Old Testament, on Mount Sinai, Moses talked with God and received from Him ten commandments - laws for his people. When the angels of the Lord came to Lot to save him from death in doomed Sodom, they said: “Save yourself on the mountain so that you do not perish” (Genesis XIX, 17).

According to the Gospel, Jesus Christ in his earthly life climbed the mountain sixteen times, remember the Sermon on the Mount or the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor, and he was crucified on Mount Golgotha. In Greek Orthodoxy, Mount Athos on the peninsula is called the Holy Mountain - Ayion Oros. "Oros" in Greek - "mountain", comes from the root "orao", which means - "to see." The mountains are also mentioned in the suras of the Koran: "And Musa said when he came to the appointed meeting, after the Lord spoke to him:" Lord, let me see You. " “You will never see Me,” the Lord answered him. “But look at the mountain and you will see” (Obstacles, 7: 143). One of the verses of the Koran mysteriously states: “And you will see the mountains and consider them immovable; but they are moved like clouds are moved ... ”(Ants, 27:88).

The mountain is a symbol often used by the ancient teachers of alchemy in their writings. In this case, the mountain symbolizes Athanor - a flask or furnace with primordial matter enclosed in it to obtain the philosopher's stone, which turns all metals into gold and gives the key to immortality.

About the legends of Shunut

One of them says that there was an underground monastery in the area. Once the villages of Mariinsk and Krasnoyar were powerful centers of the Old Believers. The authorities waged an irreconcilable struggle with the schismatics, and the Old Believers went into deep forests. There were many such secret places around the Revda plant.

For example, in the book by VM Slukin "Secrets of the Ural Undergrounds" in the history of Shunut's sketes, the name of the Yekaterinburg merchant of the first guild Lev Ivanovich Rastorguev (1769-1823) is mentioned in the first quarter of the 19th century, when the struggle against schismaticism was very tough. At that time he was one of the richest entrepreneurs in the Urals. He was an ardent representative of the officially persecuted faith and secretly established two monasteries: male and female in the vicinity of the Kasli plant. Therefore, it is possible that Rastorguev applied his money, patronage and influence to the underground monastery near Shunut-stone.

The schismatic hermitages in the Urals were of two types: the first - a hut or two or three in a forest wilderness; the second is a dungeon branched with passages with compartments and a well-type entrance. Underground construction among Old Believers was caused by their religious ideology. The main dogma was: the salvation of the soul can only be in the deserts, in an environment remote from other people, vain and unspoken. Secondly, underground activity was promoted by some customs and rituals adopted in schismatic life.

The underground schismatic hermitage functioned for a long time in an incredibly remote place - near Shunut Mountain. There, a vertical manhole was dug in hard rocks with lateral branches into the cells. By the decree of Nicholas I of 1827, Old Believers were forbidden to build sketes and call themselves desert dwellers. At the same time, back in 1800, by the decree of the Emperor Paul, unity of faith was established as a form of reunification of the Old Believers with the Orthodox Church. The authorities were forced to take this step, among other things, because the Old Believers, as they say now, went public. Many rich merchants and industrialists appeared among them, they served in the "local government bodies" - this had to be reckoned with.

But the secret bases were searched for by detachments of soldiers and factory guards, the sketes were destroyed and destroyed. The houses that had become unreliable were abandoned and filled up their entrances. Traces of underground shelters were lost. That is why there are so few finds of intact sketes and even their traces. So the skete near Shunut was not found. However, according to the recollections of old people, back in the thirties of the last century in Mariinsk and Krasnoyar there were people who looked like old monks or hermits. They do not lose hope of finding an underground monastery near Shunut to this day. In any case, there were such seekers among the residents of Revda.

The struggle with the Old Believers ended with reconciliation and the construction of churches of the same faith, in the Revda plant it was a church in the name of three saints Peter, Alexy and Jonah. It was built in 1836 and it was located on the site of today's Escobar cafe on Chekhov Street.

What other secrets do these places hide?

Shunut is adjacent to another no less mysterious place - the source of Platonis. Hundreds of pilgrims come here every year. The source is named after a hermit who lived here a long time ago, who spent all her time in prayer and ate exclusively the gifts of the forest. They say that if you bow to the grave of Platonida and plunge into the water of a miraculous spring, you can get rid of many ailments. By the way, there are also several stories of the origin of the source and the life of the hermit. There is a version that there was also a secret NKVD camp near this place, there was a special contingent of prisoners. However, open data does not confirm this. Many more secrets hide these remote places.

Mount Shunut is a favorite tourist destination. The fame of these places has long gone beyond the Urals. There are many roads to Shunut. But basically all tourists prefer the road from Mariinsk, it starts before reaching the village. At the very top of Shunut's head, there is a view for which it is worth knocking off your legs to get there.