Tour of Vladikavkaz

Vladikavkaz fortress was built at the entrance to the Darial gorge, at the beginning of the Georgian Military Road to Tbilisi. Above Vladikavkaz rises Mount Table – it can be seen on the coat of arms of the city, and from any city street. The first to meet us are the heroes of the Nart epic - Batraz, Uruzmag, Soslan and others. Heroic characters of ancient Alanian tales are located in the park "Narton" in the company of ancient deities - the patron of wild animals Afsati and the pagan prototype of St. George - Uastirgi. The pantheon of gods and mythical heroes is replaced by a pantheon of real heroes, in honor of whom the memorial “Alley of Glory” was built. The memorial was opened in 2005 and begins with a triumphal arch with the inscription “Glory to the Heroes!” On the territory of the Walk of Fame, soldiers who fell in the battles of the Great Patriotic War are buried, as well as a monument to the victims of Beslan and a bust of Stalin. The oldest surviving building of Vladikavkaz is the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin (1823). Next to the church is a small necropolis, which houses the grave of the most famous Ossetian poet and enlightener Kosta Khetagurov. The pedestrian part of the tour begins with Shtyba Square, where there is a stylized fortress and a monument to Dzaug Bagulov. The name of the founder became the name of the city - after all, in Ossetian Vladikavkaz is called "Dzaudzhikau". The most beautiful street of Vladikavkaz is Mira Avenue, on which cars do not drive, but pretty trams run in the shade of old plane trees. The branches of 200-year-old trees do not hide the architectural beauty of the facades of ancient mansions built in the Art Nouveau style in the middle or late XIX century. Who only did not walk along the avenue – Pushkin and Lermontov, Bulgakov and Gorky, Vakhtangov and Khetagurov, poets, artists, musicians, revolutionaries, famous heroes... Next to Bulgakov on Mira Avenue sits a cat (he is also a monument). A cast-iron cart with Pushkin, who twisted into his coat from the mountain wind, two cast-iron oxen pull somewhere with a desperate effort. This is the most unusual monument to the poet, and very well reflects the realities of travel of that time. Surely none of the tourists will not want to be in the place of Pushkin and exchange a comfortable bus for two skinny oxen. Acquaintance with the architecture and history of Vladikavkaz would be incomplete without the Lutheran Church. This is the only building of Vladikavkaz built in the Gothic style. The church is not as simple as it seems: it has its own history, legends and secrets. Another architectural symbol of the city is the Sunni mosque, built in 1908 in a rare Egyptian style for Russia. The mosque is located on the shore of Terek and resembles a picture from a book with fairy tales of the East. The embankment of Terek has recently been restored, and now you can take a leisurely walk along the river, admire the bright greenery of the trees and take many romantic photos against the backdrop of the Table Mountain.

Park "Narton" - Alley of Glory - Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary - Shtyba Square - Lutheran Kirch - National Museum - Cathedral of the Great Martyr George the Victorious