The largest penin­su­la on Lake Baikal, con­nect­ed to the main­land by an isth­mus bare­ly ris­ing above the water lev­el. By geo­log­i­cal stan­dards, quite recent­ly, just a few thou­sand years ago, the Holy Nose Penin­su­la was an island and was not con­nect­ed to the main­land. The island was sep­a­rat­ed from the east­ern shore by a nar­row strait, and two rivers — Maly Chivyrkui and Bar­guzin, flow­ing into Baikal to the south of the island, grad­u­al­ly filled the strait with sand and silt.