It is said that a huge treasure consisting of 1,600 tons of gold lies dormant for hundreds of years at the bottom of Lake Baikal, posing a great mystery. Although many people covet it, no one has dared to find the answer to this worthwhile mystery.
The Guinness Book of Records has recognized Lake Baikal in Russia as the deepest lake in the world, with an area the size of Belgium and storing up to 20% of the planet’s fresh water. Therefore, this place also has special names such as the “World Fountain,” “Moon Lake,” “Beihai,” “Russian Pearl,” and “Innumerable Teal Sea and Lake.”
Lake Baikal in Russia is the deepest lake in the world, untouched and harboring many things that few people know about. This is why it attracts many tourists passionate about exploring. In winter, Baikal is covered with extensive ice, surrounded by vast and majestic landscapes.
The vast lake, combined with the thousands of kilometers of snow-capped mountains, creates a stunning winter scenery.
There are many legends surrounding Lake Baikal. The most special of them is the story of up to 1,600 tons of gold at the bottom of the deepest lake in the world.
The mysterious tale unfolds when 1,600 tons of gold plunged into Lake Baikal, yet no one dared to retrieve it.
In the year 1917 AD, as Tsar Nicholas II faced imminent demise, many nobles representing the old feudal forces in Russia sought to gather a large amount of gold and silver treasures to migrate west. Passing through Lake Baikal, they encountered an enemy in pursuit. At that critical moment, the nobles chose to leave a total of 1,600 tons of gold to sink directly to the bottom of Lake Baikal.
Another version suggests that this is the gold collected and owned by Tsar Nicholas II himself. While transporting it to hide elsewhere, the group traversed Lake Baikal but encountered a thaw. Unable to escape in time due to the lake’s vastness, the 1,600 tons of gold and the escorting army sank to the bottom of the lake.
If this legend is true, then why has no one managed to salvage this huge amount of gold?
The first reason is due to the structure and location of the lake. In 2015, according to people close to the discovery area, the deepest point of Lake Baikal could reach 1,637 meters, and the total volume of the lake exceeded 2.36 billion cubic meters. Retrieving the investment units from such depths is deemed nearly impossible.
Lake Baikal is located at the intersection of seismic belts. According to data, there are earthquakes with a magnitude of approximately 6 on the Richter scale approximately every 10 years, and catastrophic earthquakes of approximately 9 on the Richter scale occur about every 30 years.
Some of the major earthquakes recorded in history include the years 1862 and 1959. For example, in 1960, a magnitude 9.5 earthquake occurred on Lake Baikal, affecting the entire surrounding geological structure and the lake’s water level.
If this legend is true, then why has no one managed to salvage this huge amount of gold?
The second reason is that within Lake Baikal, there are still many species of freshwater animals from the Tertiary period, such as Baikal seals, Arctic white trout, Omul white trout, sharks, etc. The majority of these fish. The person who intended to find the treasure gave up after hearing that there was extreme damage here as well.
If human impacts cause partial damage to the lake environment, the biological, plant, and even mineral resources here may be affected. This could be a game-changer for humanity now and in the future.
There are many tourists visiting the lake.
The third reason is: if gold is found during the actual recovery, who will this huge gold belong to? Because Lake Baikal was selected as a World Natural Heritage in 1996. From this perspective, Lake Baikal seems to belong to everyone and to all humanity. But the indigenous people who live around the lake are the majority of Irkutsk. If you look at the border, Lake Baikal is located on the territory of both the Republic of Buryatia and the Irkutsk Oblast. So people have no way of making a relatively uniform statement about who owns the entire lake.
People who live around Lake Baikal also tell that they often saw scenic scenes on the lake: from castles to trains, boats…
According to folklore, this lake is cared for by a divine force that can help prolong human life. Therefore, there are many people who are willing to immerse themselves in water at a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius, hoping to become immortal.
There are even many reports related to UFOs and incidents on Lake Baikal. Interestingly, the UFO-related stories here come from secret Soviet Navy documents.
According to a 1982 document, a Russian Navy diver reported encountering a “group of humanoid creatures wearing silver suits” at a depth of 50 meters. The three divers who were chasing the group of creatures were found dead, and four others were injured.
