An incredible journey to the sky-high Gamsutl from Grozny

In the Gunibsky district of Dagestan, on the crest of Mount Gamsutlmeer, there is a beautiful Avar aul ghost of Gamsutl. Gamsutl is a picturesque village with centuries-old history and traditional mountain architecture, located in the Gunibsky district of Dagestan. People left it about 30 years ago, and the last resident, or as he called himself "Mayor of Gamsutlya" - Abdulzhalil Abduljalilov died in 2015. Since then, interest in the abandoned colorful village, as if stuck on the mountainside, only grows. Hundreds of tourists visit it every day.

This aul is one of the oldest settlements on the territory of Dagestan. From the Avar "gamsutl" is translated as - "at the foot of the khan fortress", from which one can make such an assumption that long ago, even before the spread of Islam in Dagestan, the local khan chose this mountain for the construction of his khan tower or fortress. The memory of the people did not preserve the year of the village’s creation, nor the name of the khan who gave rise to the emergence of Gamsutl. But apparently the appearance of the village was inevitable.

The fact is that the place for the construction of the fortress was not chosen by chance. Aul Gamsutl is located on top, at an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level. Remarkably, the rocks literally make up part of the houses. They were beaten as far as necessary, and the rest became a monolithic foundation or wall of the house.

From here, the entire surrounding area is seen as in the palm of your hand. And directly the aul itself is surrounded by steep slopes, precipices and cliffs. You can get to the village only by a narrow path, which was once a road. In the old days, the work of repairing this road was the most important task in the daily life of the village, to which all its inhabitants came.

Aul became large, gradually the population grew. In the village, of course, there were shops, a post office, a club it used to be a mosque, a school, a hospital, a maternity hospital and even a mobile cinema came to the village.

Looking at the pictures is hard to believe, but recently in Gamsutla life was boiling. There was a road on which the cars traveled. But still, the inhabitants gradually left the village, leaving their homes, and about forty years ago the village was almost completely empty. Almost because until 2015, one resident of the village remained in the village. The mayor of the village! as he called himself - Abduljalil Abduljalilov. He, like everyone else, went to live in the city, but then somehow found a reason to return. He passed away in 2015.

People left their homes for a very prosaic reason - went to the cities and larger villages for a better life, men went to work or study, took their families with them. No one wanted to return to Gamsutl.

Gamsutl is an amazing place, the current views are very impressive and surprising. You start asking questions, thinking and philosophizing. I invite you to see the village of Gamsutl.

Don’t sit at home, stay positive and travel.

In the Gunibsky district of Dagestan, on the crest of Mount Gamsutlmeer, there is a beautiful Avar aul ghost of Gamsutl. Gamsutl is a picturesque village with centuries-old history and traditional mountain architecture, located in the Gunibsky district of Dagestan. People left it about 30 years ago, and the last resident, or as he called himself "Mayor of Gamsutlya" - Abdulzhalil Abduljalilov died in 2015. Since then, interest in the abandoned colorful village, as if stuck on the mountainside, only grows. Hundreds of tourists visit it every day.

This aul is one of the oldest settlements on the territory of Dagestan. From the Avar "gamsutl" is translated as - "at the foot of the khan fortress", from which one can make such an assumption that long ago, even before the spread of Islam in Dagestan, the local khan chose this mountain for the construction of his khan tower or fortress. The memory of the people did not preserve the year of the village’s creation, nor the name of the khan who gave rise to the emergence of Gamsutl. But apparently the appearance of the village was inevitable.

The fact is that the place for the construction of the fortress was not chosen by chance. Aul Gamsutl is located on top, at an altitude of 1500 meters above sea level. Remarkably, the rocks literally make up part of the houses. They were beaten as far as necessary, and the rest became a monolithic foundation or wall of the house.

From here, the entire surrounding area is seen as in the palm of your hand. And directly the aul itself is surrounded by steep slopes, precipices and cliffs. You can get to the village only by a narrow path, which was once a road. In the old days, the work of repairing this road was the most important task in the daily life of the village, to which all its inhabitants came.

Aul became large, gradually the population grew. In the village, of course, there were shops, a post office, a club it used to be a mosque, a school, a hospital, a maternity hospital and even a mobile cinema came to the village.

Looking at the pictures is hard to believe, but recently in Gamsutla life was boiling. There was a road on which the cars traveled. But still, the inhabitants gradually left the village, leaving their homes, and about forty years ago the village was almost completely empty. Almost because until 2015, one resident of the village remained in the village. The mayor of the village! as he called himself - Abduljalil Abduljalilov. He, like everyone else, went to live in the city, but then somehow found a reason to return. He passed away in 2015.

People left their homes for a very prosaic reason - went to the cities and larger villages for a better life, men went to work or study, took their families with them. No one wanted to return to Gamsutl.

Gamsutl is an amazing place, the current views are very impressive and surprising. You start asking questions, thinking and philosophizing. I invite you to see the village of Gamsutl.

Don’t sit at home, stay positive and travel.

Providing a car with a personal guide.