In any part of the world, in any country and in any region on earth, you can find wonderful and amazing natural places in their unique beauty. Here we will talk about the most beautiful corner, located near the city of Monchegorsk.
This is Lake Imandra (Murmansk region). The article will focus on the unusual and beautiful landscape created by the nature of these places.
What else is remarkable, besides the beauty of landscapes, these lands? Once upon a time, at the very beginning of the 50s, the largest hydraulic structures were built here and a reservoir was created - the Nivsky cascade of hydroelectric power stations.
A little about the Kola Peninsula
Location of the Kola Peninsula - Murmansk region, northwest of the European part of Russia. Its shores are washed by the White and Barents Seas. The main attraction of the peninsula is amazing nature. Everything is here: mountains, lakes, rivers, the sea and even the desert.
Occupies a peninsula of 100 thousand square meters. kilometers of area. In its open spaces you can see a lot of amazing and beautiful in terms of natural beauties. Among them is an amazing fabulous lake, about whichwill be discussed below. It is located in the central part of the peninsula.
Lake Imandra: photo, location, discovery
This fabulous lake is the largest on the Kola Peninsula. Its area is 876 sq. kilometers. The shape of the reservoir is strongly elongated from north to south (length - 109 kilometers, width - about 19 km). This territory belongs to the Lapland Reserve.
This wonderful body of water was discovered in 1880 by the expedition of geologist NV Kudryavtsev. The peculiarity of the lake lies in the fact that a lot of surprisingly exotic, various forms of fabulous islands can be seen above its water surface. There are more than 140 of them in total, and the largest of them is Yerm Island (or Imandra Babinskaya), whose area is about 26 square meters. kilometers.
Description of Lake Imandra
The city of Monchegorsk itself is located on the shore of the lake. Lumbolka, and on the other side is Monche. This is the lip of Lake Imandra. It has a rather complex lobed shape with a large number of bays and bays (they are very convenient for parking), as well as a large number of small islands. The total area of the reservoir is 876 square meters. km. The greatest depth of Lake Imandra is 67 meters (average -19 m.).
The body of water is divided into three parts:
- northern - Bolshaya Imandra: area 328 sq. km, length - about 55 km. and width within 3-5 km.;
- central - Iokostrovskaya Imandra: area 351 sq. km, width approximately 12 km, width of the narrowest point 700meters;
- western - Imandra Babinskaya: area 133 sq. km.
The lake has surprisingly clean and clear water. The bottom is visible even from a depth of 11 meters. The reservoir is fed mainly by rain and snow. A variety of fish are found in its fresh waves: perch, vendace, salmon, grayling, pike, brown trout, whitefish. The lake freezes in early November and opens only in the middle of summer (June-July).
Which settlements are located here?
Imandra (lake) is a piece of paradise on the Kola Peninsula. In these beautiful places there are such settlements as the village of Imandra with the same name as the reservoir, the small villages of Zasheek, Tik-Guba, Khibiny, Afrikanda and the city of Monchegorsk.
Tributes and source of the lake
In total, approximately 20 rivers flow into the lake, including the Pecha, Goltsovka, Malaya Belaya and Kurkenyok. The largest tributaries of the Imandra are Belaya, Monche and Pirenga. The source is the Niva River.
Natural attractions of the area
The territory of Imandra attracts the attention of many tourists with its amazingly beautiful nature. By water you can get (on a yacht or boat) to the eastern coast, crossing from one island to another, and already there you can climb the peaks of Yumechorr (height 1096 meters) or Goltsovka (height 847 meters) of the Khibiny Mountains.
Besides, Imandra is a lake favored by fans of kite surfing, a modern sport. What it is? A kite is a kite coupled with a paraglider.
What is this sport?A person stands on the ground and, holding on to the lines, tries to hold the kite in his hands. Having caught the rising air currents, he stands on the board (snowboard, skateboard, mountainboard, wakeboard or roller skates) and feels himself flying. They say the experience is indescribable. Moreover, the larger the kite itself, the more free and exciting the “flight”.
Sports and tourism in Monchegorsk
This body of water is famous for its competitions. Imandra is a lake on the ice of which international 100-kilometer races are held annually in April under the same kites and similar sails.
Kayaking, rowing slalom, freestyle, whitewater kayaking and whitewater downhill skiing are also developed here.
There are also tourist routes along the rivers (2nd, 3rd and 4th degree of difficulty) flowing into the lake. Imandra, and sports alloys.
For tourists, one-, two- and multi-day trips on yachts, kayaks and other types of water transport are organized here. There are excellent modern tourist vessels for this: catamarans, rafts, kayaks and polyethylene kayaks.
This is a wonderful and comfortable place for winter activities. Where Lake Imandra is located, the kayaking season lasts from May to October.
Khibiny Mountains
The Khibiny Mountains is a large, but not very high (up to 1202 m) mountain range, located 150 km. north of the Arctic Circle. Swampy tundra borders it in the north and south, and in the west and east of it are the lakes Imandra andUmbozero.
These peaks represent a series of mountain plateaus, which are dissected by deep passes and gorges with a large number of cliffs.
Imandra (lake) and its nearby territories also attract attention due to the proximity of the Khibiny to them.
Origin of the name of the island
Until now, the origin of the name of the lake has not been fully disclosed.
Such an unusual name for the island, suggested A. Kazakov, came from the language of the peoples of Sami origin and means "a lake with a complex configuration of the coastline, with many islands."
There is also an assumption (N. N. Poppe's opinion) that "imandra" has a common root with the word "imatra". It appears to be a very ancient name, and of non-native origin.
The Lopar local name for the lake is Aiveryavr, but it has long since fallen into disuse.
There is another assumption (S. B. Vasiliev) that if we take into account the transport significance of the lake in the everyday life of the Lapps, mainly in the winter season, we can assume that the lake was first called Innmandera. In translation, this is either "ice continent", or "ice space" (from the words "inn" - "ice" and "mandera" - "mainland"). And later it began to sound more harmonious for the Russian settlers.
In conclusion - the legend
Imandra is the name of the daughter of a hunter who lived on the shore of a small lake. The daughter hunted with her father. She was beautiful and fast, andher laughter awakened sleepy mountains. A young hunter who lived on the other side of the mountains once heard her sonorous laughter. He went to this sound and, seeing Imandra, was enchanted by her beauty. He forgot that mountains had deep gorges because he couldn't take his eyes off the girl.
The young man fell into one of the abysses, and Imandra began to beg the gods to revive this young man, but they were silent. Then she often cried when she came to the gorge, and one day she saw that one of the rocks turned into the face of her beloved, but it remained stone. In desperation, Imandra threw herself into the lake, which immediately parted and became very large.
