The Dungeon’s healing power (Legends of Rakhmanov’s Springs)

Rakhmanovskoe Lake is considered dead; there are no fish or other living creatures in it. And, according to legend, it is divided from the inside into two halves, between which there is an air space where a shaggy old man lives. If you row a boat to half of the lake on a full moon, that same grandfather will drag the curious one away to his abode. They also say that there are ghosts here. True, they are harmless, sometimes they just play pranks, local residents say. It was not possible to confirm the rumors about the drummers, but the absence of fish in Rakhmanov is explained by the fact that the water in the lake is radon, of high concentration. However, it is precisely this “lifelessness” that gives life-giving force to the body.

There are two known legends associated with Rakhmanov Springs. The first reads: Hunter Rakhmanov in 1763, chasing a wounded deer along the bloody trail, found him standing in the springs in clouds of steam. Having killed the animal, old man Rakhmanov discovered that the wound on the deer’s leg was not bleeding and was already half covered with a healthy film, which the hunter was very surprised by. Suffering from rheumatism, he decided to try the miraculous remedy of springs and after two weeks of bathing he felt healthy.

Second legend. Kazakh Abdrakhman went hunting in the mountains in winter, got chilled while hunting, began to freeze and, seeing his death, decided to go down to the valley. Here he noticed steam rising from the ground and discovered hot springs. The hunter warmed up in the water, felt extraordinary vigor after swimming and, returning home, told Kazakhs about the find. Since then, the springs began to be visited first by Kazakhs, and later by Russians. The springs were called Abdrakhmanovskiy, which was later shortened to Rakhmanov.

The second legend is more true, since the local population used the springs before Russian pioneers appeared in Altay, the Rakhmanov Springs travel agency (Ust-Kamenogorsk) told Megapolis. – In 1823, the Rakhmanov Springs were studied by the headquarters physician of the Siberian linear battalions Popov, and he gave the first instructions: “… these springs are very useful for skin diseases, bruises and cut places…”.