| Sarvinoz Tuliyeva |
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| Ancient forts – tell the history |
A person should know about the history of the land of his birth and be able to provide information when someone asks. I will also tell you about the historical places in the region where I was born. Kizilkala is one of the ancient castles in the Beruni district of the Republic of Karakalpakstan, located on the territory of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
The Red Castle was built at the same time as the Toprak Castle (approximately in the 1st-2nd centuries AD) and, according to legend, was connected with it by an underground tunnel. In case of enemy invasion, the rulers could leave the fortress through an underground passage. However, the question of whether there is an underground connection with Toprak-Qala has not yet been investigated.
The fort was built on a high platform, on the southern side of the Sultan Uwais Mountains. It has an almost square shape measuring 65×63 meters. The height of the walls reaches 16 meters, and the corners are directed to the four cardinal points. In the center of the north-west and south-west walls are two protruding right-angled towers. They included several small rooms. On three sides of the walls there was a wide two-meter corridor for the movement of soldiers. The entrance to the castle was made from the south-eastern side of the wall through a special ramp leading to the castle gate. This was the most protected part of the fortress.
The interior of the castle is well-preserved, and visitors will immediately find themselves on the second floor. Lower rooms can be seen where mud bricks have been eroded. Curious local residents often crawled into these underground chambers, believing that they would find gold, but more often than not, they encountered snakes that like to hide from the scorching sun here. This gave rise to the legend that large piles of gold were hidden in these rooms, but no one could retrieve them because the gold was guarded by a giant snake or demon.
Remains of wall paintings with plots of plants were also found during excavations in different parts of the castle. The images are made in dark red, blue, yellow colors and drawn with a black line along the contour.
Life in the castle came to a halt after a major fire disaster. Currently, this fort serves as a tourist center for foreign visitors and local residents. If you happen to be in Karakalpakstan, I definitely recommend that you go to this place.
