Chegem waterfalls and the mysterious aul ElTuby

The mysterious ancient Balkar village of El-Tubyu is the focus of the history of the whole of Balkaria. Ancient watchtowers, the remains of Greek temples and anomalous phenomena attract adventurers and connoisseurs of beauty.

Chegem gorge

The Chegem River Gorge is located in the middle part of the Kabardino-Balkar Republic and divides its mountain zone into two parts: northern and southern.

The deep and winding cliff of Chegem is one of the most beautiful gorges of Kabardino-Balkaria, and, perhaps, the North Caucasus. The stormy river, compressed as in the grip of rocks, with a rumble rushes one way or the other, beside the rocky cliffs. High and majestic, going up the walls of the gorge, as if artificially decorated with decorative greenery of trees and shrubs, white-foam waterfalls, hromadas of mountains and rock peaks - all this creates a kind of flavor of the Chegem gorge. The road to the Chegem gorge passes along the plain, through the Kabardin villages and further to the limits of the Rocky Range.

Aday-Su, or Maiden Spit, is the most full-flowing waterfall, located 200 m from the road and 5 km from the cliff of the Chegem River. It breaks off from a sheer steeple, from a height of 30 m. In the warm season it is possible to swim under its jets.

El Tubu

Eltuby is an ancient Balkarian settlement located in the mountains of the Caucasus in a very picturesque place. In our time it became known thanks to the monument of antiquity, located near the village and called the "City of the Dead". The village was declared a miracle of Russia in 2009. It is located in the picturesque Chegem gorge, which many years ago passed one of the roads of the great Silk Road.

If you want to see how Balkars live high in the mountains, then El-Tubyu is the best way to get acquainted with the culture of this ancient people. Narrow curved streets, houses and fences made of stone, as well as a large number of structures characteristic of mountain settlements of the Caucasus, all this can be found in the village. Very unusual look family towers, which in the past were built everywhere in the Caucasus, but not preserved everywhere. Surprisingly for the city dweller will look and houses made of stone of various shapes. And beautiful narrow streets against the backdrop of beautiful mountains will not leave indifferent visitors to the village.

The first people appeared in these places 15 thousand years ago, this is how the first human site found in the grotto of Kala-Tubyu is dated. Not far from the grotto are the remains of a wooden settlement of the 6-10th century, which even had its own wooden water supply, which indicates the high development of civilization in these mountains.

City of the Dead.

However, most people are attracted not by the village itself, but by the adjacent ancient cemetery and a complex of mausoleums built around the 10th and 17th centuries. Only eight mausoleums, four rectangular and four octagonal have survived to our times. They all look very amazing, they have no doors, but there are small windows in their walls. Inside they are empty, although the walls are neatly plastered. Apparently, they were also plastered and originally white. Some small traces of plaster remained, but time and environmental influence did not leave their original appearance as the authors of the buildings intended.

The most common version for which these buildings were built was necropolises or crypts. This hypothesis is confirmed by archaeologists who conducted excavations here and found many interesting artifacts, as well as the remains of ancient people. However, at this moment there are inconsistencies, for example, why there is a window, but there are no doors, why the inside is empty and there are no visible signs of activity. As usual, there are more questions than answers, despite the fact that at first glance everything is obvious.

Legends and myths.

As befits any mysterious place, El-Tubyu, thanks to sensational journalists, quickly turned from a medieval burial ground into a cemetery of immortal titans who lived here tens of thousands of years ago. There are many legends around the city of the dead. The first of them is that the local hills stand on the pyramid and can give longevity or almost immortality, and ancient people lived in these places for 800 years, without knowing diseases. Usually these materials are supported by facts about the longevity of local residents, who often celebrate the bicentenary. It is a pity that only the residents of the village do not know anything about this, and in general rarely and extremely reluctantly visit the burial ground, maybe they would have lived for three hundred years, and while the locals live not so much longer than the average person, and even then thanks to the unique nature and excellent ecology. There is also another myth that near the crypts were found the remains of ancient people, the size of the skeletons of which is about 10 meters. However, this version also does not stand up to any criticism, because then there would have been at least some documentary data (for example, rock paintings, ancient sites) or it would have been preserved in the memory of local residents who, by the way, are extremely jealous of their traditions and values and such a moment would hardly have been erased from their memory.

The nature of the Upper Chegem basin is unusually beautiful. In the south, the peaks of the Side Range (Kurmytau, etc.) with a height of more than four kilometers sparkle with eternal snow. Magnificent and impregnable as a citadel, Mount Karakai (“black rock” – beam.; 3646 meters), the highest in the Rocky Ridge, rises in the east. In its spur, in the mountain range of Kyzla-Kuygenkaya (from the Balkarian "Rock of Burned Girls"), there is the grotto of Kala-Tyubyu - an ancient human site (13 - 15 thousand years). Not far from the grotto is the ancient settlement "Lygyt", which belongs to the VIII-X centuries AD, with an underground wooden water supply.

Chegem gorge somehow miraculously combines the beauty of nature and the mysteries of history. Probably, this inspired the filmmakers to shoot here the feature film “Sannikov Land” (diary A. Mkrtchyan, L. Popov; 1973). In the upper reaches of Chegema - at the village of El-Tyubyu, Chegem waterfalls, Andai-Su waterfall, a significant part of the film takes place. In the gorge, including at the waterfalls, were filmed episodes of the film S. Rostotsky “Hero of our time” (1965-1966). In 1975, in the village of El-Tubyu filmed the film “Rider with lightning in his hand”.

The village of El-Tubyu resembles an open-air museum. When this village appeared, now no one knows. Literally translated, “El-Tubyu” means “the foundation of the village”. Its name suggests that it was founded on the site of an even older settlement. When the present village was founded, there were already collapsed foundations of some older buildings. The spirit of old reigns everywhere. Stone houses have been preserved for several hundred years. In the center of the village we can see the ancient tower, which, in the late XVII – early XVIII century, was built by invited Svan masters. This tower belonged to the local princes Balkarukov, who were related to the Tarkovsky Shamkhals in the XVIII century. This tower is also called the “Tower of Love”. Built it according to the legend of Akhtugan Balkarukov to defend against relatives, stolen by him in Dagestan beauty – kummykka Kerim. One of the sacred relics of the family was brought from Dagestan Quran XIV century. At the end of the XIX century, a mosque with a minaret was built in the village (unfortunately, it has not survived), and there was a school where local children studied the Koran. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the Balkarukovs owned the only cheese factory in the gorge.

Immediately, at the bridge there is a “stone of shame” with holes made in it (according to legend, criminals were tied to it in the Middle Ages). There is also the stone Avsoltu, who was worshipped before, seeing in it the patron saint of hunting Afsati; and the “sacred” stone Bayram-tashi, and the stone of strongmen weighing three hundred kilograms (the winner in the competition was considered the one who tore him off the ground).

Next to the village, two ancient defensive Greek staircases go up the rocky wall leading to the cave where, according to legend, ancient Christian relics were buried, which are still being searched for.

In ancient times, when the enemy was advancing, people went down stairs to the mountains, and soldiers occupied the defense above the stairs to bring down stones and arrows on the enemy. Climbing stairs today, in peacetime, you realize how hard it was for the attackers.

In the center of the village, near the bridge is a monument to K. Kuliev in the form of a bust. Not far from here you can see ancient sakli stone with flat sod roofs. For the lack of arable land on these roofs, barley and oats were previously grown, and after harvesting a meager crop, goats were released. These ancient buildings of the village became natural scenery when A. Balabanov’s feature film “War” (2002) was filmed here.

At the foot of another interesting natural object - the volcanic massif Kum-Tube ("sand hill" - balk.) with a height of more than 3500 m is located "City of the dead". This array was included in the list of anomalous sites of Russia as the anomalous zone "Alpha". Over its peak in the 1980s, mysterious night glows were observed.