The Legend of the Seven Lakes

The Haft Kul or "Seven Lakes" is the 7 beautiful alpine lakes situated in the Fann Mountains of northwestern Tajikistan. Sometimes they are also referred to as Marguzor Lakes, Marguzor being the biggest lake in the system. The other lakes are Soya, Nezhigon or Mizhgon, Gushor, Nofin, Khurdak and Khazorchashma. The lakes are outstanding because of the unique colours of the water, especially Marguzor and Mizhgon. 

The secret of these lakes lies in their legends. According to folklore, a blacksmith once lived in a valley with his seven beautiful daughters. Once the local government saw the youngest daughter of the blacksmith and immediately fell in love with her. The father agreed to marry his daughter, but she did not want to marry the old governor. The smart girl came up with an idea and insisted that she would get married only if the governor had built her a fantastic golden palace.

The girl was sure that he could not do this, but, inspired by love, the old man worked a miracle and built a palace within 40 days. Realizing that her fate was decided, on the day of her wedding, the young beauty threw herself from the roof of the palace in her wedding dress. Lake Mizhgon appeared at this place and other lakes formed from the tears of her sisters.

There is another version of the legend, according to which an old father of seven sisters got lost in the Fann mountains. For many days they couldn't find him. His seven daughters began crying after realizing that their father might never return. Their tears filled the valley and 7 lakes were formed. The lakes were very different from each other and beautiful, as the seven sisters.