Dungan Mosque and Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity Dungan
Mosque (Мечеть) This exotic-looking, incongruous, blue building in central Karakol resembles a Buddhist temple, but is in fact a mosque. Completed in 1910, the mosque was built to serve Karakol's community of Dungans (Chinese Muslims who fled persecution in the 1880s). Designed by a Chinese architect, the building is constructed entirely without nails and much of its imagery, including a wheel of fire, reflects the Dungans' pre-Islamic, Buddhist past. Instead of a minaret the mosque has a wooden pagoda. Despite being closed by the government from 1933-43, the mosque continues to be used as a place of worship. These days worshippers are not exclusively Dungan and include a large Kyrgyz contingent. The 'Dungan Mosque' has therefore become simply 'The Mosque' in local parlance. Women are not always allowed to enter, but the friendly caretaker, who lives in the grounds, will open its doors and allow you to peer inside.
Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Trinity (Собор Святой Троицы) This pretty orange and red-domed, wooden church is built on the site of several previous places of Christian worship. After the town was founded, services were first held here in a yurt. A subsequent stone church, no doubt intended to be more permanent than the quakeproof yurt, was destroyed by an earthquake in 1890 (its granite foundations are still visible). The new wooden cathedral was completed in 1895 but suffered during the secular 1930s when its onion domes were removed and it was turned into a club. Rebuilding was completed in the early 1990s and the cathedral was first reconsecrated in 1991 (again in 1997). Today Karakol's
Batiushka Vladimir (Father Vladimir), who lives with his family in the grounds, oversees the entire Issyk-Kul diocese and a local flock of ethnic Russians. The cathedral's greatest treasure is an icon of the Gentle Virgin Mary, originally from Tyup, 27km away. The icon is said to have shed tears and blood in 1916 when monks at Svetly Mys (see
day trips from Karakol) were murdered. It is also venerated for having repelled the bullets of rebel soldiers in an attack of the same time. The icon shone with an ethereal light and its would-be destroyers were so overwhelmed that nobody touched it afterwards. Several copies of the icon have been made, many of which are said to have healing properties. The best time to visit is on Sundays before 10am, when the chanting of the choir, rising above a painted wooden iconostasis, adds to the incense-and-candles fuelled Old Russian atmosphere. A 1$ entrance fee is charged for foreign visitors. It is, of course, free for everybody who comes to take part in services, or to pray. Karakol's History
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