Who built this Siberian summer palace… and why?

Siberian Times ^ | 12 November 2014 | Derek Lambie

[SunkenCiv]

I’ve heard of those, but I’ve never seen a duck with dark glasses and a cane.

[Salamander]

But Ted Nugent found it everywhere else.

[Grimmy]

“The Kildar...”

I don’t have a Ghost of an idea to what you’re referring.

[BigIsleGal]

Weren’t some monks responsible for high mountain rescues with their brandy & trained St.Bernard dogs? Maybe the same type of operations out in the boonies.
Just an uneducated theory.

[colorado tanker]

The lack of an obvious heating system is a real problem and from the photos I don't see any trees on the shore. It is located in Tuva where the average daily high is something like 10 below zero in January. So, whatever it was it must have been seasonal.

At the time the Tuvans were under the control of the Uighur Khanate, but forts were rarely occupied seasonally.

The Tuvans are Buddhist, so it might have been a monastery. Many young men in Buddhist countries live with monks for a time before setting out in secular life. A warm season camp for them?