City of 10,000 dead

The only way. Mountain serpentine and sparsely populated area. Fortunately, not evening. For many centuries, the ancient curse successfully coped with the protection of this place. Even now, suddenly dead batteries, broken cameras and indigestion do not surprise visitors. It was not our intention to disturb the souls of the dead. We only look with one eye and leave. My companion drops Canon. The camera works, but it only makes absolutely black frames. It's like we're in a crypt. And we are there. This is the "City of the Dead."

North Ossetia, the village of Dargavs. Wikipedia is mysteriously laconic. No one has reliable information about the largest necropolis of the Caucasus.

On the slope of the mountain, in a beautiful place are 96 crypts. They do not just stand, but continue to store what they were created for. They are filled with the dead.

Come in, since you’re not afraid, everything is open. Just remember - from here no one ever returned alive. At least according to legend. Locals do not go here.

And if in the first crypt closest to the road you see only decayed skulls and bones, then mummies will meet you further.

Until Soviet times, nobody was interested in the City of the Dead. The first studies began in the sixties. In one of the crypts, archaeologists counted 95 skulls.

Legends say that all the bodies here were alive. And I even believe in it - museum clothes from the City of the Dead are surprisingly well preserved.

The buildings created special ventilation and microclimate, which favorably influenced the natural mummification. True, before the crypts were closed with a wooden shield with a valve, so now the dead look no longer the best way. The way we used to see them in horror films.

Each crypt belonged to one surname and was very expensive. An unusual strength solution from bird eggs, sour cream, milk and lime allowed them to survive to our time. One hewn corner stone cost a sheep. From the numerous residential buildings in the district there was not a trace left - they were cheap. Now only towers and crypts ...

Underground and semi-underground. With gable, four-gable and flat roofs. Here, in one place, the entire evolution of cryptography is presented. Some structures have two or even three tiers. When there was no free space left, the mountaineers made additional flooring. They punched grooves in the walls and inserted wooden beams onto which boards were laid for the new dead.

During the plague, patients left here. In the crypts they were waiting for death, and relatives brought them food and water.

But the most amazing thing in the City of the Dead is boats. In many crypts, the remains lie in wooden boats.

None of the neighboring nations used this method of burial. Perhaps this is some kind of ancient cult, preserved by the Ossetians almost until recently. Or there is some connection of ancient myths about the Styx River with the "City of the Dead".

A local resident told a legend. Many, many years ago, the horsemen of this village captured a girl on a campaign that was not equal in beauty.

Everyone wanted to marry her and everyone was ready to kill the one who stood in his way.

And the men went to the elders to gather advice and make a wise decision who will get the girl.

But even among the elders, at the sight of a beauty, their eyes sparkled. Young blood leaped in my veins, despite their advanced age.

They began to show their boldness, day and night, circling around unearthly beauty, completely crazy. Three days they thought what to do with her, so they came to nothing.

Let go - the horsemen will leave for her. Give someone - cut off. And in order not to kill each other because of her, they decided that she should die.

And as soon as the vitality left the beautiful girl, an unknown curse fell on the inhabitants.

The meat began to fall off people from bones. They tried to escape in neighboring villages, but the punishment overtook them there.

The dead began to be buried in the ground, but the earth did not accept them and threw bones to the surface. Then the bones began to stone. So the "City of the Dead."

Watch the video: Mosul is a city of the dead six months after devastating battle with Islamic State. ITV News (May 2024).