Seven Lakes
Interesting facts
- Marguzor, the largest of the seven, stretches about 2.7 km, covers some 1.16 square kilometres and reaches a depth of around 45 metres.
- Ancient petroglyphs have been found along the shores of Lake Marguzor, showing that people knew this valley long ago.
- The lowest lake, Mijgon, covers only about five hectares but reaches some 20 metres in depth.
- Hazorchashma, the highest lake, is fed not only by springs but also by two mountain streams, the Gissar and the Darakhti Surkh.
- The clarity of the water comes from glacial meltwater flowing down from the surrounding Fann peaks.
- A former campsite on the shore of the third lake, Hushyor, was destroyed by a mudslide.
Why it is worth it
Seven lakes hang one above another in a single valley of the Fann Mountains, and no two of them are quite the same colour: turquoise, deep blue, violet, even rust-red, depending on the minerals in the water and the way the light falls into the gorge. Known in Tajik as Haftkul, "seven lakes", and also as the Marguzor Lakes after the largest of them, they lie along the Shing River in the Panjakent District of western Tajikistan and are sometimes called the Seven Beauties of Shing. Each was formed where rockfalls dammed the river, and together they climb from about 1,600 to 2,400 metres.
The lakes are numbered from the bottom of the valley, and each also carries a name. The first, Mijgon, "eyelashes", is a narrow turquoise strip between two slopes. The second, Soya, means "shadow": it sits so deep in the valley that the sun barely reaches it. The third, Hushyor, "vigilance", is said to owe its name to the snakes on its banks. Nofin, the fourth, is the longest at about two kilometres and often takes on reddish tones; Khurdak, "the little one", is the smallest and lies by the village of Padrud. Marguzor, at about 2,140 metres, is the largest, a sheet of pale-to-deep blue shut in by steep rock walls. The highest, Hazorchashma, "a thousand springs", stands a little apart from the rest and is fed by countless springs and streams.
Local legend tells of a man who vanished in the mountains. His seven daughters searched the valley for him in vain, and the tears they wept filled it, until they drowned in them; the seven lakes, each different and each lovely, are said to be the seven sisters. The nearest town, Panjakent, lies in the Zeravshan valley and is known for the excavated ruins of an ancient Sogdian city on its outskirts.
Getting there
Panjakent, about 45 km away in a straight line, is the nearest town; a road leaves the Zeravshan valley and follows the Shing River up past the lakes. The nearest airport by distance, Zomin (OMN), is across the border in Uzbekistan. Within Tajikistan the nearest is Dushanbe International Airport (DYU), about 107 km away in a straight line across the Zeravshan and Hissar ranges; by road the route runs north from Dushanbe over the mountains to Ayni and then west along the Zeravshan to Panjakent.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Seven Lakes, also known as the Marguzor Lakes, are a group of seven mountain lakes located in the Fan Mountains of western Tajikistan. They are occasionally referred to as the Seven Beauties of Shing, after the Shing River, which flows through the valley where the lakes are situated. These natural dammed lakes mark the western boundary of the Pamir-Alay mountain system.
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