Since winter is knocking on the door, I decided to share with you my love for one of the most beautiful winter places in the world- Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia.

Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest and oldest (20 to 25 million years) existing freshwater lake. Called “the sacred sea” by locals, Lake Baikal, also known as the “pearl of Siberia”, is located in the south part of the Russian region of Siberia between the Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the Southwest. In midwinter, the lake  is a roughly 12,200-square-mile crystal ice rink. A curious thing about Lake Baikal is about two-thirds of the estimated 1,500 animal species living in and around it are found nowhere else on Earth. The best known resident is the nerpa, the world’s only exclusively freshwater seal.

Baikal in winter

Lake Baikal, Siberia, Russia

Jim Denevan’s Giant Artwork on Frozen Lake Baikal

The American artist Jim Denevan created amazing artwork on the frozen lake of Baikal. He carved expansive, meditative works with repetitive patterns and endless scale which spanned on an area of nine square miles!

Jim Denevan’s artwork on Lake Baikal

Jim Denevan’s artwork on Lake Baikal

Ice Curtain in The Shore of Lake Baikal

Stunning Lake Baikal, Russia

Horse and rider crossing the frozen Lake Baikal, Siberia. Photo by Matthieu Paley

Frozen Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal holds an incredible 20 percent of Earth’s unfrozen fresh water

Night sky of Olkhon Island, Lake Baikal, Russia

I would really love to be in this snowy fairytale sometime in my life! Would you?

L. V. K.