Qapal

Qapal (Kazakh: Қапал, Qapal), formerly known as Kopal (Russian: Копал), is a village in Aksu District in Almaty Region of south-eastern Kazakhstan. It is situated on the Qapal River. Until 1921, it was an uyezd center of the Semirechye Oblast.

Qapal

Қапал
Village
Qapal
Location in Kazakhstan
Coordinates: 45°08′N 79°03′E
CountryKazakhstan
RegionAlmaty Region
DistrictAksu District
Population
 (2009)[1]
 • Total3,869
Time zoneUTC+6 (Omsk Time)

Tamshybulak Spring

The Tamshybulak Spring[2] is a large spring on the territory of the village, situated on fertile ground. The water does not freeze in winter and algae grow all year round. The water flows down from the mountains in small drops, so it is called in Kazakh "Tears of the Earth" or "Weeping Spring".

The spring is renowned for the beauty and sacred power of its water, which is medicinal: each arm of the spring has its own properties. In one place, the water is believed to benefit eye diseases, in another, those of the stomach, and so on. Many pilgrims and tourists visit because of their belief in the healing properties of the water, which are yet to be confirmed by scientific studies.

The first records concerning the medicinal properties of the spring were studied and collected by the great traveller and geographer Shoqan Walikhanov in 1859–1865. In 1848, the English travellers Thomas Witlam Atkinson and his wife Lucy visited Qapal. He published his first article describing the spring and the nature of Qapal village in 1869 in the St. Petersburg magazine "Around the World".[3] The Atkinsons' son was born in Qapal and was named after the spring: Alatau Tamchiboulac Atkinson.[4]

Notes and references
  1. Results 2009 census
  2. formerly also transliterated as Tamchiboulac Spring
  3. Nicholas Fielding, 2015: South to the Great Steppe: The Travels of Thomas and Lucy Atkinson in Eastern Kazakhstan 1847-52 ISBN 9780954640996
  4. Lucy Atkinson, 1863: Recollections of Tartar Steppes and Their Inhabitants
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