Swjatoi Nos - Lake Baikal has a holy nose
Swjatoi Nos is the touristic center of the Zabaikalskij national park. Particularly in the months of the Russian school vacations, July and August it is frequented by ship tours from Irkutsk or groups of young people of the adventurous kind, hiking and climbing in the area. It would be too much to speak of masses of tourists on the peninsula, but you will not find yourself alone with nature at this time either. The island is home to approx. 80 brown bears living in the wild. Also, there are many rare kinds of birds such as king eagles, black cranes or the Falco peregrinus, which apparently find sufficient retreat possibilities in the inaccessible mountain regions and the in vast marsh landscapes.
The variety of flora and fauna of the peninsula is owed by a large extent to one event, which first entailed the destruction of innumerable landscapes of the Baikal: damming up the river Angara in the 50's of the 20. Century. Swjatoi Nos was flooded particularly on its land connection to the east bank of the lake. Today there is only a relatively narrow sandy strip connecting mainland and island. On the northern side of this connection, nowadays there is 50-year-old swampland which is very rich in species. Also, inside the innumerable bays of the Tschiwirkyski area (Tschiwyrkyuskij Saliw), which limits the northeast bank of the peninsula, there are many swamped birken, pine and beech forests to be found.
The mountain massif rising up to about 2000 meters around the mountain Markovo (1876m) is the absolute contrast to the shallow bank landscapes of the mainland connection or the protected bays. It dominates the view of more than half of the peninsula. From its long plateau-like top you can enjoy a fantastic view of the Tschiwirkyski area, the Ushkani archipelago, the northern point of the largest isle of lake Baikal (Olchon), and in good weather conditions even a glance into the woody Wilderness of the northern baikal.
