Shartash stone tents are a unique natural phenomenon. These are natural flat, “mattress-shaped” slabs, located by the lake Shartash. People found these unusual flagstones even in prehistoric times. In particular, scientists have found traces of human dwelling sites on Shartash dating back to the third millennium BC! Boulders were perfect for the primitive people as a protection against cold and wind. By the way, the "tents" owe their unusual shape to the winds blowing here. The height of the cliffs here is 12 meters, and the height of the tents, together with the hill they are located on, is about 25 meters.
Shartash tents were popular not only with the primitive people. At the late XIX century the residents of Ekaterinburg came here for picnics, and in the early XX century the tents started to serve as a secret meeting-place of Yekaterinburg workers. The Bolshevik Yakov Sverdlov, after whom the city was named during the Soviet era, also attended these meetings.