Krasnoyarsk Pillars (also known as Stolby) () is a Russian

national park A national park is a nature park designated for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes because of unparalleled national natural, historic, or cultural significance. It is an area of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that is protecte ...

located 10 km south of the city of

Krasnoyarsk Krasnoyarsk is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative center of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia. It is situated along the Yenisey, Yenisey River, and is the second-largest city in Siberia after Novosibirsk, with a p ...

, on the northwestern spurs of the Eastern

Sayan Mountains The Sayan Mountains (, ; ) are a mountain range in southern Siberia spanning southeastern Russia (Buryatia, Irkutsk Oblast, Krasnoyarsk Krai, Tuva and Khakassia) and northern Mongolia. Before the rapid expansion of the Tsardom of Russia, the mou ...

. The site is known for its dramatic rock formations. Over 200,000 climbers, hikers, and other visitors are recorded annually. The park covers 47,219 hectares.

Topography

The park's natural borders are the Bazaikha River, a right tributary of the

Yenisei River The Yenisey or Yenisei ( ; , ) is the list of rivers by length, fifth-longest river system in the world, and the largest to drain into the Arctic Ocean. Rising in Mungaragiyn-gol in Mongolia, it follows a northerly course through Lake Baikal a ...

, in the northeast; the

Mana River Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...

in the south; and the River in the southwest. To the northeast, the park borders the city of

. The park is divided into two regions. The first is straight Stolby, which is open to tourists. The second is "Wild Stolby", which is located deeper the park, and where access is restricted.

Ecoregion and climate

Stolby is located in the

East Siberian taiga The East Siberian taiga ecoregion, in the taiga and boreal forests biome, is a very large biogeographic region in eastern Russia. Setting This vast ecoregion is located in the heart of Siberia, stretching over 20° of latitude and 50° of longit ...

ecoregion, in the heart of Siberia. The climate is

subarctic The subarctic zone is a region in the Northern Hemisphere immediately south of the true Arctic, north of hemiboreal regions and covering much of Alaska, Canada, Iceland, the north of Fennoscandia, Northwestern Russia, Siberia, and the Cair ...

, without dry season (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

, Dfc). This climate is characterized by mild summers and cold, snowy winters.

Flora and fauna

Flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the national park includes about 740

vascular plants Vascular plants (), also called tracheophytes (, ) or collectively tracheophyta (; ), are plants that have lignified tissues (the xylem) for conducting water and minerals throughout the plant. They also have a specialized non-lignified tissue ( ...

and 260 kinds of mosses.

Fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

, which is typical for the midlands of the Eastern Sayan, prevails. 290 species of vertebrates are found in the territory of the park, including many with a taiga habitat, (red-backed mouse,

sable The sable (''Martes zibellina'') is a species of marten, a small omnivorous mammal primarily inhabiting the forest environments of Russia, from the Ural Mountains throughout Siberia, and northern Mongolia. Its habitat also borders eastern Kaz ...

Siberian musk deer The Siberian musk deer (''Moschus moschiferus'') is a musk deer found in the mountain forests of Northeast Asia. It is most common in the taiga of southern Siberia, but is also found in parts of Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, Manchuria and the Korean ...

hazel grouse The hazel grouse (''Tetrastes bonasia''), sometimes called the hazel hen, is one of the smaller members of the grouse family of birds. It is a sedentary species, breeding across the Palearctic as far east as Hokkaido, and as far west as eastern a ...

and others), as well as some forest-steppe animals (

Siberian roe deer The Siberian roe deer, eastern roe deer, or Asian roe deer (''Capreolus pygargus''), is a species of roe deer found in northeastern Asia. In addition to Siberia and Mongolia, it is found in Kazakhstan, the Tian Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan, east ...

steppe polecat The steppe polecat (''Mustela eversmanii''), also known as the white or masked polecat, is a species of mustelid native to Central and Eastern Europe and Central and East Asia.It is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List because of its wi ...

long-tailed ground squirrel The long-tailed ground squirrel or Eversmann's souslik (''Urocitellus undulatus'') is a species of rodent in the squirrel family Sciuridae. It is found in China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Russia. Description The long-tailed ground squirrel has ...

and others). Also, there are species from The Red Book of Russia: * Plants: calypso bulbosa,

cypripedium calceolus ''Cypripedium calceolus'' is a lady's-slipper orchid, and the type species of the genus ''Cypripedium''. It is native to Europe and Asia. Taxonomy ''Cypripedium'' comes from the Greek Κύπρις πεδίον (''Kypris pedion''), meaning Aphro ...

dactylorhiza majalis ''Dactylorhiza majalis'', or the broad-leaved marsh orchid, is a terrestrial Eurasian orchid. Subspecies include the western marsh orchid (''Dactylorhiza majalis'' subsp. ''occidentalis'') and southern marsh orchid (''Dactylorhiza majalis'' sub ...

orchis militaris ''Orchis militaris'', the military orchid, is a species of orchid native to Europe. It is the type species of the genus ''Orchis''. Description This plant grows to a height of 20 to 50 cm with a robust stem with rather drawn up oblong ...

stipa pennata ''Stipa pennata'', commonly known as European feather grass, is a flowering plant and arid zone sand grass in the grass family Poaceae, which is grown as an ornamental plant for its feathery flowering spikes. It is one of the most common plant ...

et al. * Birds:

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of pr ...

saker falcon The saker falcon (Falco cherrug) is a large falcon species. It breeds from Central Europe eastwards across the Palearctic to Manchuria. It is a partial migrant, which means that some part of the population is migratory, some part is not. In Eur ...

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

and others.

Ecotourism and access

Visitors are able to get to the boundary of the park by city bus. The main attraction of the park is the rocks; the collective name of the rocks is Stolby, although all of the large formations, and even some smaller stones, have their own names. Inhabitants of Krasnoyarsk have been visiting Stolby for more than 150 years for sport and adventure holidays. Three districts are accessible to tourists: * Takmakovsky district is situated in a valley of the Bazaikha River, at the foot of the Takmak rock. Rocks in this area include: Kitayskaya Stenka, Yermak and a group of small rocks: Vorobushki, Tsypa, Zhaba. * Central pillars is a district 7 kilometers from the boundary of the reserve, occupying an area of about 5x10 kilometers. Unique rocks such as Ded ("Grandfather"), Perja ("Plumage"), and Lvinnyj vorota ("Lions Gate"), as well as a group of pillars, are located here. The most popular routes to the top of rocks are Golubye Katushki ("Blue Coils") and Dymokhod ("Stovepipe"). Stolbists say that

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

wrote the word "Svoboda" (en. Freedom) on the biggest pillar before the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

. Nowadays enthusiasts renew the writing intermittently, and because of difficulty of the ascent, law enforcement cannot erase the inscription. * Wild pillars include the rocks Manskaya Stenka and Manskaya Baba, which are situated in a buffer zone (closed for free visit).

History of exploration

Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt (; September 16, 1685 – March 25, 1735) was an ethnic German physician, naturalist and geographer who lived in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and later in the Russian Empire. He was among the first to conduct ...

explored the Stolby between 1720 and 1727. He visited Krasnoyarsk three times during his 7-year exploration of Siberia.

Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering ( , , ; baptised 5 August 1681 – 19 December 1741),All dates are here given in the Julian calendar, which was in use throughout Russia at the time. also known as Ivan Ivanovich Bering (), was a Danish-born Russia ...

visited it in 1733–1734. In 1735 the Pillars were seen by the members of the

Second Kamchatka Expedition The Great Northern Expedition () or Second Kamchatka Expedition () was a major Russian Arctic expedition between roughly 1733 and 1743, which mapped most of the Arctic coast of Siberia and much of the Arctic coast of North America, greatly red ...

, including naturalists

Johann Georg Gmelin Johann Georg Gmelin (8 August 1709 – 20 May 1755) was a German naturalist, botanist and geographer. Early life and education Gmelin was born in Tübingen, the son of a professor at the University of Tübingen. He was a gifted child and began ...

and his assistant

Stepan Krasheninnikov Stepan Petrovich Krasheninnikov (; – ) was a Russian explorer of Siberia, naturalist and geographer who gave the first full description of Kamchatka in the early 18th century. He was elected to the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1745. The Kra ...

. In 1771–1773,

Peter Simon Pallas Peter Simon Pallas Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (22 September 1741 – 8 September 1811) was a Prussia, Prussian zoologist, botanist, Ethnography, ethnographer, Exploration, explorer, Geography, geographer, Geology, geologist, Natura ...

visited the Stolby. He lived about a year in Krasnoyarsk, working on such papers as "Journey in various provinces of the Russian Empire," "Description of plants of the Russian state," and "Russian-Asian zoogeography." The gold rush started in Siberia in the 1830s. Gold was mined in the Stolby. "Royev Ruchey" (Eng. "Scooped Brook") was so named because of the activities of miners. In 1833, furs of 67 sables, foxes and 43 to thousands of skins of other animals were obtained in the Stolby region. In 1870 and 1880s, a Krasnoyarsk teacher named Ivan Savenkov organized school trips to the "Pillars". In 1886, Savenkov published a topographical description of the suburbs of Krasnoyarsk. From the late 1940s to the beginning of the 21st century, 16 collections of scientific papers about the Pillars were published. The effect of air pollution and recreational using on taiga ecosystems was investigated. Ivan Belyak has authored several books about the area.Krasnoyarsk Regional Youth Library: 105 лет со дня рождения Беляка Ивана Филипповича
( "105th anniversary of Ivan Philipovich Belyak") , 06 января 2013

History of protection

The core of the area was declared a natural reserve (

zapovednik A zapovednik is an established term on the Post-Soviet states, territory of the former Soviet Union for a protected area which is kept "forever wild". It is the highest degree of environmental protection for the assigned areas, which are strictly ...

) on June 30, 1925, by the Krasnoyarsk

soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

in order to protect the picturesque

Syenite Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%). It is considered a Butte In geomorphology, a butte ( ) is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and table (landform), tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from the French l ...

s and surrounding rocky landscape. About 3.5% of the territory was open to hikers seeking to visit and climb the rocks. In 1947 a married couple (Yelena Krutovskaya and James Dulkeyt) set up a farm for wild animals injured by poachers.Krutovskaya Elena
In 2000, it was expanded into a zoo named Royev Ruchey. In 2007 Stolby was submitted to the list of

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

s, but the inscription was deferred indefinitely. On December 4, 2019, the legal status of the Stolby Nature Reserve was changed to that of a

(IUCN category II).

References

External links

Official Krasnoyarsk Stolby National Park website
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The Regulation of the Federal State Establishment of The State Nature Reserve "Stolby"

Map of Krasnoyarsk Stolby National Park, OpenStreetMap.Org

Map of Krasnoyarsk Stolby National Park, ProtectedPlanet.net
{{Authority control National parks of Russia Geography of Krasnoyarsk Krai Krasnoyarsk Sayan Mountains 1925 establishments in Russia Protected areas established in 1925 Zapovednik