Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a lost medieval city in Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan. During underwater research, they found a Muslim cemetery, public buildings, and streets submerged just a few meters from the shore, according to Zakon.kz.

Lake Issyk-Kul is considered one of the deepest mountain lakes in the world, and the discovery suggests that much of its history still remains hidden beneath the water.

In the autumn of 2025, an international team of researchers surveyed four areas along the northwestern coast, working in waters only 1 to 3 meters deep.

Divers mapped walls, collapsed buildings, and wooden beams, while underwater drones photographed every stone for further analysis on shore.

The project was led by Maksim Menshikov, an underwater archaeologist from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on submerged medieval settlements in Central Asia and the technologies used to document them in detail.

In the first survey area, divers discovered fired-brick walls, a millstone, and fragments of a large building where grain had once been milled.

Such stone mills were usually located in specially designated buildings, suggesting that the area once supplied food to a large population.

One fragment of decorative brick indicates that the structure may have been a public building — possibly a mosque, bathhouse, or madrasa where people gathered for worship, study, or ritual washing. Nearby, traces of mud-brick walls made from sun-dried clay were also preserved.

Researchers concluded that the site was once a major city or trading center located on one of the most important routes of the Silk Road.

In the second survey area, divers discovered a necropolis — a large planned cemetery. The team recovered the remains of at least one man and one woman for further study.

Researchers believe that a powerful earthquake in the early 1400s destroyed the settlement, leaving it submerged beneath the lake.