Karakol Local History Museum

The Historical and Ethnographic Museum in Karakol is housed in a beautiful pre-revolutionary mansion in the city center, which once served as the summer home of the merchant Iljin. From 1918 to 1920, this building took on a new role as the headquarters of the Regional Revolutionary Committee and was later transformed into a museum by order of the Soviet Council of Ministers in 1948.

The museum features a range of fascinating exhibits, with descriptions available in English, Russian, and Kyrgyz. Among the highlights are Scythian artifacts, including bronze pots unearthed from Lake Issyk-Kul, alongside displays of ancient petroglyphs. The museum boasts an extensive collection of traditional Kyrgyz crafts, such as intricately perforated leather, felt drapery materials, and woven decorations used in yurts. Additionally, visitors can explore a vibrant collection of national costumes and fine examples of Kyrgyz silver jewelry. One hall is dedicated to the region’s flora and fauna, much of which is endangered. The museum also provides insight into Soviet influence on the region’s history, with several exhibits focused on Kyrgyzstan’s alliance with Russia and the subsequent revolution—now important historical artifacts in their own right.

Museum offers a wonderful opportunity to explore Karakol’s rich history through an impressive display of paintings, artifacts, and animal specimens. One of the standout features is a collection of stunning photographs by Ella Maillart, the famous Swiss traveler, making it a must-visit for anyone interested in the cultural and natural heritage of the region.

Book Ella Maillart «Zo wees dan een Columbus» (in Dutch). Ella Maillart (or Ella K. Maillart; 20 February 1903, Geneva 27 March 1997, Chandolin) was a Swiss adventurer, travel writer and photographer, as well as a sportswoman.

From the 1930s onwards she spent years exploring Muslim republics of the USSR, as well as other parts of Asia, and published a rich series of books which, just as her photographs, are today considered valuable historical testimonies. Her early books were written in French but later she began to write in English. Turkestan Solo — One Woman’s Expedition from the Tien Shan to the Kizil Kum (Toerkestan Solo in Dutch) describes her journey in 1932 from Moscow to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan (then called Soviet Turkestan). Photos from this journey are now displayed in the Ella Maillart wing of the Karakol Historical Museum. In 1934, the French daily Le Petit Parisien sent her to Manchuria to report on the situation under the Japanese occupation. It was there that she met Peter Fleming, a well-known writer and correspondent of The Times, with whom she would team up to cross China from Peking to Srinagar (3,500 miles), much of the route being through hostile desert regions and steep Himalayan passes. The journey started in February 1935 and took seven months to complete, involving travel by train, on lorries, on foot, horse and camelback. Their objective was to ascertain what was happening in Xinjiang (then also known as Sinkiang or Chinese Turkestan) where the Kumul Rebellion had just ended. Maillart and Fleming met the Hui Muslim forces of General Ma Hushan. Ella Maillart later recorded this trek in her book Forbidden Journey, while Peter Fleming’s parallel account is found in his News from Tartary. In 1937 Maillart returned to Asia for Le Petit Parisien to report on Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey, while in 1939 she undertook a trip from Geneva to Kabul by car, in the company of the Swiss writer, Annemarie Schwarzenbach. The Cruel Way is the title of Maillart’s book about this experience, cut short by the outbreak of the second World War (Zo wees dan een Columbus in Dutch).

She spent the war years in the South of India, learning from different teachers about Advaita Vedanta, one of the schools of Hindu philosophy. On her return to Switzerland in 1945, she lived in Geneva and at Chandolin, a mountain village in the Swiss Alps. She continued to ski until late in life and last returned to Tibet in 1986.