North Ossetia-Alania > RNO-Alania

RNO-Alania

The Ossetians are the successors of very rich cultural traditions. More than one world-famous historians visited North Ossetia to study the phenomenon of ancestors — the legendary Scythians, Sarmats and Alans. The world museums regard it as a great luck to have art and household articles that refer to the renowned Koban culture among their exhibits. The Ossetians are the only nation in the North Caucasus whose language belongs to the Iranian language group, not to Turkic one. "Nartic Legends" that the Ossetians'ancestors left to their posterity is the subject of close study of all Iranists' serious works.

A vast amount of cultural and historical objects — about 2,5 thousand, including objects of town architecture and historical monuments of federal significance — is localized on the territory of the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. They are as well objects of cult architecture, high-mountain villages, dwelling and watch towers, burial vault complexes, rock fortresses. There are settlements with the category of historical ones in the republic. The capital of the republic — the city Vladikavkaz — has the status of a historical city with numerous architectural, historical and cultural monuments.

RNO-Alania is among the first in Russia by the quantity of historical monuments per 1 km2:

• Unique historical heritage;
• Rich cultural traditions;
• Stable political and economic situation;
• Relatively low prices of the services offered;
• Unique and diverse nature;
• Paradise for active recreation lovers;
• Transport accessibility;

Existence of many nationalities and confessions; A well-developed infrastructure of tourism and recreation; Mineral waters and healing clays. In this booklet we want to draw your attention to several excursion routes in the eastern and central districts of North Ossetia's mountainous part. It is only a slight part of the sights that you can visit and see in our republic.

The Alagir community is considered to be the oldest in Ossetia. It also used to be the most densely populated in its time, and our ancestors left quite a lot of architectural and historical monuments, part of which hasn't been studied up to now. The territory of the canyon is sure to attract the excursionists and travellers'attention.