North Ossetia City of the Dead
This ancient village and its adjoining cemetery have a beautiful history of death and remembrance
Contributors:ekoptev
Reaching this mystifying destination requires a three hour drive, taking you down a dangerous and hidden road befitting of a journey to the City of the Dead.
The village of Dargavs, or the City of the Dead, has an ancient cemetery where people that lived in the valley buried their loved ones along with their clothes and belongings. The valley stretches for 17 kilometers, and the cemetery contains almost 100 ancient stone crypts.
Ossetians say that it helps them understand of how people lived 400 years ago. It is a very mysterious place with a lot of myths and legends. It attracts tourists from nearby, as well as all over the world. It was once believed that if anyone tried to get to the city they would never emerge alive.
Due to the difficulty in finding or traveling to the location, there are not a lot of tourists at any given time. The local superstitions probably have little to do with the lack of popularity, although they do still linger. Archeologists are also very interested in exploring the site more completely, as there have been interesting items found that have attracted some scientific attention.
People who did not have anyone to bury them long time ago would just wait in the massive cemetery until their death. Locals bemoan the young generation's attraction to bright cities, contending that the young are missing out on a lot. Russia has a lot of truly unique places to offer but these historic sites do not attract much attention.
If however one spends some time in North Ossetia, they say it's possible to feel the ancient vibes around the city and its surrounding area. Once you get to the city, you will find what at first appears to be lots of little white houses, but are actually stone crypts, the oldest dating back to the 16th century. In front of every crypt there is a well that was used to tell if a person "made" it to heaven. Visitors drop a coin into the well, and if the coin happened to hit a stone at the bottom of the well, it was said to be a good sign.
Local legends have it that in the 18th century, a plague swept through Ossetia. The clans built quarantine houses for sick family members, who were provided with food but not the freedom to move about, until death claimed their lives. It was a very slow and painful way to go, and in the City of Death they stay.
The village of Dargavs, or the City of the Dead, has an ancient cemetery where people that lived in the valley buried their loved ones along with their clothes and belongings. The valley stretches for 17 kilometers, and the cemetery contains almost 100 ancient stone crypts.
Ossetians say that it helps them understand of how people lived 400 years ago. It is a very mysterious place with a lot of myths and legends. It attracts tourists from nearby, as well as all over the world. It was once believed that if anyone tried to get to the city they would never emerge alive.
Due to the difficulty in finding or traveling to the location, there are not a lot of tourists at any given time. The local superstitions probably have little to do with the lack of popularity, although they do still linger. Archeologists are also very interested in exploring the site more completely, as there have been interesting items found that have attracted some scientific attention.
People who did not have anyone to bury them long time ago would just wait in the massive cemetery until their death. Locals bemoan the young generation's attraction to bright cities, contending that the young are missing out on a lot. Russia has a lot of truly unique places to offer but these historic sites do not attract much attention.
If however one spends some time in North Ossetia, they say it's possible to feel the ancient vibes around the city and its surrounding area. Once you get to the city, you will find what at first appears to be lots of little white houses, but are actually stone crypts, the oldest dating back to the 16th century. In front of every crypt there is a well that was used to tell if a person "made" it to heaven. Visitors drop a coin into the well, and if the coin happened to hit a stone at the bottom of the well, it was said to be a good sign.
Local legends have it that in the 18th century, a plague swept through Ossetia. The clans built quarantine houses for sick family members, who were provided with food but not the freedom to move about, until death claimed their lives. It was a very slow and painful way to go, and in the City of Death they stay.
