Arkaim is a site on the border of Russia and Kazakhstan, home to the ruins of a highly developed Bronze Age settlement that’s around 4,000 years old. Some researchers say Arkaim is even two centuries older than the legendary city of Troy.

Excavations began in 1991, right when the Soviet Union was undergoing massive changes. Over 100 million soviet people suddenly found themselves living in a completely new reality. The old Soviet way of life was totally destroyed, and many weren’t ready for the new world. Millions turned to the supernatural, so TV exorcists, magic healers, and prophets became hugely popular. For people lost in this new reality, it was a form of therapy. The news about the discovery of Arkaim attracted thousands of soviet pilgrims from across the former USSR. Many believed the place had magical powers.

Mystics, pagans, and UFO hunters gathered there, each following their own gods, searching for aliens, or looking for a portal to another world. In the early XXI, when these photos were taken, Arkaim had turned into a kind of enchanted valley — a meeting place for the most unusual people, where heavy drinking mixed with strange, mysterious rituals.

I visited this place several times with my future wife in the early 2000s, and it still remains in my memory as a place where very different people live together peacefully — with mutual respect and a touch of gentle irony toward one another. I too wandered through the ancient ruins at night, told scary stories by the fire, and drank vodka with unknown magicians and sorcerers — the energy of this place can draw anyone into its quiet magic.

I haven’t been there for almost 20 years, but I hope Arkaim has managed to protect itself from the changes of time and remains a place of bright enchantment. At least, that’s how it lives in my memory — and in these photographs.

***
Titles // Captions:

#1 – Spiderman // Arkaim is a place where you can meet anyone — UFO hunters, knights, pagans, scientists, descendants of the royal family, members of fringe cults. And Spider-Man.
#2 – Where the Atlanteans sleep beneath the hills // If you speak to an elderly man with a professorial look, he’ll tell you that beneath these hills — at the crossroads of the great rivers Ai, Uy, and Bolshaya Karaganka — lie the sleeping Atlanteans, waiting for a signal from space to awaken.
#3 – The one who speaks to the wind // The shaman is a popular figure and a local opinion leader in Arkaim.
#4 – Ritual // Former pioneers, Komsomol members, and citizens of the Soviet Union have come to the steppe near Arkaim to perform rituals. Many of them involve circular dances. You can see countless such circles here, especially during the summer solstice.
#5 – Soviet Ghosts // No one knows where the abandoned statues of Soviet pioneers in the middle of the steppe came from.
#6 – White // The children of mystics and pagans feel good and free in this place.
#7 – The shop stays open after sunset // Right on the site of Arkaim, you can buy incense sticks and everything you need for almost any ritual of black or white magic — as well as fridge magnets and souvenirs of course.
#8 – Sunset Spirals // On top of each hill, students laid out spirals many years ago in 90s. Since then, it has become a tradition to walk along these spirals with a contemplative look. Many do it barefoot.
#9 - Magic mirrors // According to legend, one can only gaze at the setting sun on the magical mountain through a mirror. Nobody knows why.
#10 – Tents in the steppe // Most of the pilgrims live in temporary camping tents.
#11 – Beam of Light // These people gathered here to place one stone each into a small pyramid, from which a column of light energy was supposed to emerge. When the column failed to appear, they decided my camera had interfered — and I had to run away.
#12 – Pure ecstatic awe // A neo-pagan from the Soviet past raises his arms in ecstatic awe of the universe.
#13 – Artifact 1276 // In the steppe, mysterious artifacts appear again and again.
#14 - A child returns to his village // Amid the mystical fervor and religious ecstasy of thousands of pilgrims who have come to their steppe, the locals continue their everyday lives — selling fresh milk, potatoes, and vodka.