Rukh Ordo Cultural Center
Рух Ордо
A cultural complex on the lakeshore at Cholpon-Ata, named after writer Aitmatov, with five white small chapels representing different religions facing Issyk-Kul.
Rukh Ordo (meaning “City of the Spirit”) is a cultural complex built on the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul at Cholpon-Ata in 2002. It is named after Chingiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyzstan's most famous writer and the author of *The White Ship* and *Jamilya*. The complex stretches along the lakeshore. Its most striking feature is five identical white small chapels, representing Islam, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Buddhism and Judaism, symbolizing religious harmony. The grounds also contain statues of Aitmatov and other historical figures of Kyrgyzstan, an ethnographic museum, galleries and gardens. A lakeside boardwalk offers views of the snowy peaks of the Terskey Ridge across the lake. Admission for foreigners is several hundred soms (check on site). Getting there: on the lakeshore east of Cholpon-Ata town, about a 15-minute walk from the town center. It can be combined with the Petroglyph Museum on the same day. Note: some exhibition halls charge extra admission, and the sun on the lakeshore is intense in summer.
Opening hours
Approx. 09:00–19:00 (shorter in winter)
Nearby sights
- Cholpon-Ata Beach
- Cholpon-Ata Petroglyphs
- Bosteri
- Grigoryevka Gorge (Chon-Ak-Suu)
- Kyrchyn Gorge
- Semenov Gorge (Semyonovka Gorge)
- Kaji-Say
- Manjyly-Ata