What to see in the Caucasus: Seven wonders of the North Caucasus

What to see in the Caucasus during your holidays. The places to visit in the Caucasus are surprising and little frequented. Know the best of the Caucasus, here we will tell you.

The extraordinary places that you can see on your trip to Russia

The Caucasus region is the most mysterious area in Russia. Although it is no longer dangerous to travel around Caucaso, people still lack the knowledge to be calm and explore this beautiful, authentic and beautiful place.

In this article we tell you about 7 places in the Caucasus that you have to visit without a doubt.

Places to visit in the Caucasus

1. Elbrus mountain

The highest peak in Russia and Europe, a most popular ski resort, the place where they sought the entrance of the mystic Shambhala

Elbrus is located on the border of the republics of Kabardino-Balkaria and Karachay-Cherkessia.

They are called “Double Mountain” for having two peaks. The peaks are separated by saddled and have 3,000 meters from one peak to the other. The western mountain peak is 5642 meters high, the eastern one is 21 meters less.

Today Elbrus: it is a main center of mountain skiing, mountain climbing and habitual tourism. The high season usually lasts from December to May. To the tourist services there are 35 kilometers tracks of diverse complexity, 12 kilometers of cable car, equipment rental, entertainment centers, Internet wi fi. For climbing and hiking the most favorable moment is the period from June to September.

The main tourist infrastructure is in three villages: Elbrus, Terskol and Tegenekli.

At an altitude of 3500 meters at the station “Mir”, you can visit the most alpine museum in the world – Museum of Military Glory of the defenders of Elbrus during World War II.

How to get:

The nearest airports are Mineralnie Vodi and Nalchik.

Taxi will always be better to ask in advance. Distance from Minvody to Terskol – 180 kilometers, it takes 3.5-4 hours by car. From Nakchik to Terskol: 130km, by car 2.5-3 hours. Many hotels offer a transfer.

In addition you can take a train from Moscow from the Kazansky train station. If you have the train from Moscow to Kislovodsk, you need the Mineralnie Vodi station, if the train from Moscow to Vladikavkaz: the Projladnaya station.

2. Naryn-Kala Fortress

Rub the wall of 1600 years

The oldest fortress in Russia is located in Dagestan, in Derbent. The old part of the city with the Naryn-Kala citadel and historical landscape are included in the UNESCO list.

This area was already inhabited in the third millennium BC. Along the Caspian lowlands there were always very important trade routes including the famous Silk Road, to have control of this area there were always fierce struggles.

The powerful king of the Sasanids dynasty was able to saw the road safely in the V-VI century.

The powerful defensive complex was built stone walls in two rows. On the one hand the wall of the fortress entered the sea at 500 meters and blocked the entrance to the port, on the other – the length of about 40 kilometers to the Dzhalgansky mountain range. The citadel, located on a high hill, with two lines of fortifications remained impregnable for several centuries.

Now inside the fortress they are saving buildings from different eras .: the unique cross-domed church of the 6th century, the remains of water tanks, the ruins of the Khan palace of the 18th century, the saunas of the 16th-17th century, The Khan office of the eighteenth century, guard room of the nineteenth century, the old prison – zindan. If you climb up the wall, the wonderful view of the ancient city opens from above. The complex is open during the summer: from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., it will last winter from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

How to get:

The nearest airport is the city of Majachkala. The airport is located 4 kilometers from the city Kaspisk and 21 kilometers from the capital of Dagestan: Majachkala. You can take the taxi to both cities.

You can also take a train or bus to Majachkala, but the journey time takes more than 1 day.

3. Akhmad Kadyrov-Hadji Mosque “Heart of Chechnya”

The largest mosque in Russia.

Mosque is located in Grozni, on the shore of the Sunzi River, in the middle of the huge park with fountains and alleys.

The “Heart of Chechnya” mosque is a center of the Islamic complex that also includes the Islamic University of Russia of Kunta-Jadzi and Spiritual Direction of the Muslims of the Republic. It is built in the Ottoman classic style. It was opened on October 17, 2008 and was named after the name of the first president of the Chechen Republic.

In this mosque can be at the same time more than 10,000 people, the same amount can pray in the territory adjacent to the mosque in the summer gallery and square. It is open for tourists, in the free time between prayers, to enter you must remove the shoes and cover the head for women.

How to get:

The nearest airport is the city of Grozni. By train the trip takes 42 hours.

4. Dune Sarykum

Sand of the hill – it is the only monument of nature with special climatic zones

The largest isolated dune in Europe Sarykum is located next to the Korkmaskaly village in Dagestan next to the Kumtorkalinsky mountain range. Its height varies between 250-260 meters (it is like a skyscraper of approximately 55 floors). Dune zone three times the size of Monaco. The mountain is composed of fine golden sand.

The specialists do not disagree on the origin of the dune, but they say that surely this corner of the desert is at least one hundred thousand years old.

There is a special micro climate: it is the only place in the North Caucasus, where for five months, from May to September, the average temperature is 20 ° C. The sand on a sunny summer day is heated to 60 ° C or more.

The breathtaking views can be enjoyed in the spring, when the sun rises from the sand mountain between the flowering steppe. It is also good to watch it during strong winds: sand “walks”, and the shape of the dune changes.

How to get:

The nearest airport is the city of Majachkala. From the bus station in Majachkala you have to take a taxi or bus to the village Korkmaskaly

5. Mineral waters of the Caucasus

Spas of Piategorsk, Esentuki, Zeleznovodsk, Kislovodsk.

Perhaps, nowhere in the world can you find so many different sources of mineral water in its chemical composition and healing properties in such a small territory.

In 1803 the Emperor Alexander I signed the rescript of the recognition of the value of the state of the mineral waters of the Caucasus. 189 years ago, in 1992, according to the presidential decree, the territory of the Mineral Waters of the Caucasus was given the status of the specially protected ecological complex in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Today there are more than 130 sources of mineral water, 13 types and 40 species. Also here is Lake Tambukan with the only healing mud.

Each federative spa has its directionality. In Kislovodsk cure diseases of the circulatory, respiratory, nervous system. In Esentuki: gastrointestinal tract, liver, biliary tract, metabolic disorders. In Zeleznovodsk: digestive system, kidney, urinary tract, metabolic disorders. In Piatogorsk: diseases of the musculoskeletal system, nervous system, digestive system and gynecological diseases. In addition, the radon hospital is used, which has no analogues in the world.

How to get:

E airport: Mineralnie Vodi, then towards the capital you can take a bus or taxi. From the city of Mineralnie Vodi to the spas you can also take a bus or train.

6. Dargavsky Necropolis

Included in the UNESCO list, they compare it to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt

The necropolis is located in the Dargavs village in North Ossetia.

In the city of deaths there are almost a thousand crypts of different types: some are on the ground (18th-14th century), others are semi-underground and underground (9th-17th centuries). These crypts for many centuries used to be graves of the ancestors of the Ossetian families.

As the family was richer, the largest was the crypt. The dead buried clothes together with household goods and weapons. Interesting that the bodies put in a construction that resembled the ship, although there is no sea in those lands.

There are certain facts: during the plague in the Middle Ages, when many people were infected, and often they voluntarily decided to leave the village and go to die all together with the families to the crypts, so as not to infect their neighbors. The micro climate of the ravine contributes to the natural mummification of the bodies

The complex is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., except Monday.

How to get

You can take a taxi from the nearby airport in Beslan, from Beslan to Vladikazkaz.

From Vladikavkaz to the village you can go on the bus (Vladikazkaz-Dzimar).

7. The Jeirakh ravine

In the ravine is the Museum-Reserve, its area four times larger than the area of ​​the Principality of Liechtenstein

Jeirakh ravine is located in the region with the same name of the Ingushetia region.

The museum joins places of interest in the canyons of Jeirakh, Salginskogo and Assinsky. With the monuments of history, culture the Ingushetia people of the Bronze Age until the end of the last Middle Ages. They are the ancient and authentic complexes of the Egikal, Hamhi and Targa peoples, the Thaba-Yerdy Christian temple (from the 8th-12th century). Each of them has the information posts, but always better to hire a guide that can explain everything in an interesting and fun way.

This museum is one of the largest in Russia and occupies the area of ​​64,000 hectares.

How to get:

You can take a taxi from the nearby airport in Beslan, from Beslan to Vladikazkaz.

In Ingusjetia it is always better to go through Vladicavkaz, there you can catch a bus to Jeirakh. To go to Ingushetia a special document of the Tourism Committee is necessary. Because this region is on the border with another country.

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