Suspension Bridge in Ust-Kabyrza

A pedestrian suspension bridge over the Mrassu River in the village of Ust-Kabyrza, Tashtagol municipal district, Kemerovo Region. The bridge links the old and new parts of the village, which stands at the confluence of three rivers — the Mrassu, the Kabyrza and the Pyzas — in Gornaya Shoria, within the Shorsky National Park.

The bridge

The structure hangs on thick steel cables firmly anchored to the opposite banks of the river. Such a crossing is a common solution in the mountain villages of Shoria, where building a permanent bridge over the fast Mrassu is harder and more expensive. The current suspension bridge was built by the Evraz company in 2004, and since then it has served as the main pedestrian route between the old and new parts of Ust-Kabyrza. In February 2009 the span collapsed under severe frost, but the bridge was rebuilt in its previous form, and today it again serves residents and visitors as a crossing over the river.

Ust-Kabyrza

Ust-Kabyrza is one of the oldest villages in Gornaya Shoria, founded in 1703. A Bronze Age settlement has been found three kilometres from the present centre of the village, and in the 9th–7th centuries BC the area was inhabited by people of the Tagar culture. According to reports, a burial known as the grave of the "Kabyrza princess" was also discovered here.

The village is home to the Trekhrechye museum, opened in 2011 as a reconstruction of a Shor GULAG camp that existed here in Soviet times. That same year a chapel of Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom — the first of its kind in Kuzbass — was built at the mouth of the Pyzas River, and in 2012 the Svyato-Nikolsky Church was erected as a memorial to victims of political repression. Eighteen kilometres from the village lies the Azas Cave, which requires a special permit to visit.

Getting there

Ust-Kabyrza can be reached from Tashtagol by car, scheduled bus or taxi; a bus runs from Tashtagol to the village daily. From Sheregesh, the route goes through Tashtagol heading east, past Mount Tumannaya. The suspension bridge itself stands in the centre of the village and is visible from both banks of the Mrassu.