YEREVAN. – The participation of Armenian specialists in the next expedition to Issyk-Kul Lake in 2017 is possible, candidate of historical sciences, doctor Vasily Polskikh  stated during Yerevan- Bishkek space bridge titled: “The Legends of Issyk-Kul. What did Armenian Monks Hide At the Bottom of the Lake?”.

Vasily Polskikh noted that Russian-Kyrgyz expeditions are conducted annually. However, taking into account the big area of search and different characters of materials, there is still a lot of work to do. The researcher hopes there will be a joint Kyrgyz-Russian-Armenian expedition this summer adding that he was in Armenia last year, but the main problem is funding of the project.

According to him, following the results of already done work, the legend that there is a treasure hidden at the bottom of the lake isn't confirmed yet. He said that the detective story began when Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky discovered the Catalan Atlas on one of the pages of which Issyk-Kul Lake and a building with two churches were represented. He added the inscription said that it was an Armenian temple where the Apostle St Matthew's body was buried.

The expert said that there are no other references on this subject, but  there were many evidences showing the presence of  Armenians and Christians in the territory of the country in general. Asked about the approximate location of the Armenian monastery, Vasily Polskikh noted that it could not be claimed unambiguously that the temple was located in Kurmenty bay, as there were no direct proofs of it. However, the artifacts which were indirectly confirming this, were found. Later, an Orthodox church was built on the same place, the ruins of which still exist. But there was a version that the temple could be under water in the area of Issyk-Kul. An object having the size of 2 to 5 km was found at the site, and large amount is necessary for the research.

Speaking about the story of a treasure, Polskikh noted that it referred to the beginning of the 20th century. In brief the story is: Russian emigrant Uspensky got acquainted with a hieromonk in China.  Before his death, monk told Uspensky that he was the treasure keeper on Issyk-Kul. Returning to Kyrgyzstan, Uspensky began the searches of treasure. He managed to find an alabaster plate decorated with deer, gold and bronze hammers.  The authorities learned about that story and representatives of the Soviet law enforcement agencies got engaged in excavation, but all efforts have not been successful so far.