Krasnorechenskoe settlement
It is located at 36 km distant to the east from Bishkek city. Here were
found some remains of an ancient city Navekat (means New City), one of the
cities along the Silk Road, was thriving in VI-XII cc. It was installed
in IV century, Navekat city was a huge trade and cultural centre of ancient
Turkic kaganats. The north branch of The Silk Road went through this city.
Navekat consisted from a fastness, two shahristans (city itself according
to Arabic language) and also a spacious suburb with homestead buildings in
an area of so called “Long Wall” with a capacity of the area till 20 m².
It corresponds to a big city of the Central Asia in the early Middle Ages.
There were found some parts of water channel, used to bring water to rich
houses, and also cathartic sumps.
Krasnorechenskoe settlement – is not only a historical monument, representing
itself the remains of medieval city. In former different times there were
opened buddhistic, manihayskey and zoroasreiskey temples, castles, palaces,
public buildings, memorial and sepulchral – cult complexes in the system
of necropolis, left by some representatives of different confessions. Some
work - shops and manufactures of life style, armament, horse draught, finery,
coins and example of ancient letters, were in use by city dwellers in VI-XII
cc.
The most wide spread religion was zooastrism (fire-cult), but with some
specific traits of local cult. The city necropolis, located on the considerable
area to the west from shahristans, included some underground sepultures
in crypts, holes with catacombs and overhead buildings-naueses and cameras
for exposing corpses and after committal of remains in the unique bone storages
– ossuariyas, specific ceramic vases of type of hums, pots or just in the
view of bone bunches.
The Buddhist and maniheiskey communes VII-IX c. lived behind the walls
of city and under the patronage of governor. Krasnorechenskie temples of
many Buddha`s, Mane`s devotees were in the system of monastery`s building.
They consisted of sanctuary with round aisle, yard with aivan, hall and housewifely
parts. Both of monumental buildings are done from adobe bricks and included
some decoration, and Buddhist temple- some Buddha`s and boddisatva`s sculptures.
There were some bronzed with gilding and silvering sculpture of boddisatva
avolokiteshvara, a granite stele, some remains of the Buddhist texts -
a book and a scroll from birch tree, and also some letters brahmee VII-VIII
c.
The chinese granite or Tibet stele with a traditional for such monuments
iconograpfy has high artistic significance. There is Buddha in surroundings
of boddisatvas above the arch, the middle zone - a mortar with bodyguards
and down - a scene from the life of the saint people with donators. A monumental
granite sculpture of “Sleeping Buddha” on the supha was taken out from the
west gallery of temple in 1961 and it is very unique. This colossus was under
reconstruction for 12 months, but it was safed just half and not it is in
Ermitadje.
Navekat began to be destroyed since a second half of XII c. and by the
beginning of Mongolian conquests it had become desolated.