Arrival to Abakan, the capital city of the Republic of Khakassia.

We will visit the landscaping park and the museum

The Valley of Kings

From Abakan we go to "The Valley of Kings", there are about 30 burial mounds aged from the IV-III century B.C. The culmination of the trip will be the Great Salbyk Mound which was built on the noble family’s grave and excavated by archaeologists in 1954-56. It measured 0,5km in perimeter and11,5 m high, the weight of stones is up to 60 tonnes.

One of the great mounds of the world. It is located in Khakass-Minusinsk Basin in 60 km from the city Abakan. The name "Salbyk" comes from the broad valley, which focused a lot of smaller mounds. Literally the name translates as "a lowland." Archaeologists believe that it was built about three thousand years ago, as the tomb of a noble family (probably imperial), one of the tribes of Tagar culture, or even a union of tribes, because the construction of such a grand building would be beyond the power of a small group of nomads. Tagar culture is one of the Scythian tribes inhabiting the territory of Siberia in the Age of Bronze and Iron. The barrow could hold a burial chamber, in which the remains of seven bodies buried allegedly at different times was found. In the burial chamber of the gate (entrance) followed a corridor (dromos), in which it was possible to get into the crypt.

www.aboutsiberia.com/salbyk-mound