Old City at the Bottom of Çıldır Lake - Ardahan
There used to be a city at the bottom of Lake Çıldır. The lord of this place lived in Akçakale. This city, which was built in a pit, had a fountain with nine twisted faucets. The Bey said, "Those who take water from the fountain day and night should not forget to turn it off, otherwise the city will be flooded." Men and women in the city obeyed this command.
One day, at dusk, a girl who was filling water from the fountain was told the good news that her brother, who had been away for seven years, had arrived. Filling water from one tap of the fountain with nine spouts, the girl was so happy that she forgot to close the spout as she ran home. In the darkness of that night, the houses in the hollow places were flooded and the place of the fountain with nine spouts was also flooded.
When those whose houses were a little higher realized what was happening, they took their children by the hand and fled uphill without taking any belongings. The next day, only the cluster of the church was seen from the city and they were flooded until the evening. Those who survived and escaped from the city came to the island of Akçakale.
Çıldır Lake emerged from the water of that nine twisted fountain at the bottom. It is believed that if the feet of this lake had not flowed from Taşbaşı (in the south) towards Zarşat, the island of Akçakala and other villages would have been flooded.
