Mount Kunya

Mount Kunya is located on the left bank of the Krasnoyarsk reservoir, near the village of Ust-Abakan. At the top of the mountain is an ancient fortress, which offers a stunning view of the Yenisei valley.

The ancient and mysterious mountain of Kunya or Kyun-Tag, translated from Khakass, means “mountain of the Sun”, is sacred to the Khakas, a cult mountain of worship of the sun deity.

Rites in honor of the Sun were held on the top of the mountain on the ritual site. They were as follows: a fiery, red horse was brought to the top of the mountain, (it symbolized the sun), killed, divided it into 4 parts and scattered around the world. Thus were sacrifices in honor of the sun.

The height of Kuni is more than 400 meters - it is a huge natural fortress. Back in the Bronze Age, more than 4,000 years ago, people used this mountain to hide from enemy raids.

Mount Kunya is a grand monument of rock painting. Small, only a few tens of meters in length, a section of the wall cuts off the cape with a level ritual platform. On the rocky cliffs of this cape is the famous Podkuninsky scribble. The ancient drawings of the scribe depict 323 figures: people, deer, goats, horses, camels, birds, bears. The drawings are dated to the 2nd millennium BC.