Lake Baikal

Cape Burkhan
Among the three dozen Baikal islands, Olkhon stands out especially for its size, variety of landscapes, grandeur of natural monuments. Since ancient times, the island has been considered a sacred center, and there are still places of worship for spirits. According to one of the legends, the grave of Genghis Khan is located on Olkhon.

On Olkhon Island there is an extraordinary rock, which has been sacredly venerated by the indigenous population of the island since ancient times, and people from all over the world come to look at it, not being afraid of either the eerie word "Russia" or the frankly scary word "Siberia" This magnificent creation of Lake Baikal has many names: Cape Peshcherny, Cape Shamansky, Shamanka Rock, Cape Burkhan. Historically, the first name was Cape Shamansky, Shamanka. After shamanism was replaced by Buddhism, a new name appeared - Burkhan (in Buryat "Oykhon-ekhe-babai").
Legend has it that a spirit lives in the rock, the owner of Olkhon Island. It was believed that this is one of his three palaces - an earthly palace, but from here there are exits to his heavenly and underground palaces. People without faith perceive it as an ordinary natural rock; for enlightened people engaged in spiritual practice, it is a shrine with a ghostly palace. The Olkhon shaman says that in the state of ongo he sees a rock in the form of a crystal round palace-tower with a spiral staircase ascending to the sky.