Vladikavkaz.
Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia–Alania, stands on the Terek River right at the entrance to the Darial Gorge. The Georgian Military Road begins here, and on clear days Table Mountain rises above the city centre.
- Region
- North Ossetia–Alania
- Population
- 311,338 (2021)
- Founded
- 1784
- Airport
- Beslan · OGZ
Good news & stories
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All good newsHistory
The fortress was founded in 1784 at the mouth of the Darial Gorge to guard the route between Russia and Georgia. The Georgian Military Road, laid in 1799, raised its importance, and in 1860 it became a town and the centre of Terek Oblast. The railway arrived in 1875 and turned Vladikavkaz into an industrial centre. In Soviet times the city was named Ordzhonikidze, and from 1944 to 1954 Dzaudzhikau.
Culture & traditions
The city's emblem is the pedestrian Prospekt Mira, lined with early 20th-century buildings and home to a monument to the Nart hero Soslan. Vladikavkaz has Russian, Ossetian and musical theatres, the National Museum of North Ossetia with archaeology and ethnography, and the Tuganov Art Museum. The Mukhtarov Mosque of 1906 dominates the skyline, and older churches include the Armenian Church of St Gregory (1868) and the Ossetian Church (1823). The city gave the world conductor Valery Gergiev and Alexander Kemurdzhian, designer of the Lunokhod 1 rover.
Sport
Vladikavkaz is known for freestyle wrestling: the Aslan Khadartsev wrestling academy can train up to 250 athletes at once, and world champion David Baev was born here. The football club Spartak won the Russian championship in 1995; today the city is represented by Alania. Tennis player Aslan Karatsev and boxer Murat Gassiev also come from the city.
Food & drink
The thing to try is Ossetian pies: bakeries make them to order, usually in 20–30 minutes. The Central Market sells local cheese and churchkhela.
Practical information
The nearest airport is Beslan, north of the city, with regular flights to Moscow. Direct trains run to Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Sochi, and the city has trams (since 1904), trolleybuses and minibuses. The climate is mild, with cool, humid summers and fairly warm, dry winters. The best time to come is from late spring to early autumn.
What to see
- Prospekt Mira — the main pedestrian street with pre-revolutionary architecture
- Mukhtarov Mosque — a 1906 building that dominates the city
- National Museum of North Ossetia — archaeology and ethnography
- Armenian Church of St Gregory — a church from 1868
- View of Table Mountain — a summit of about 3,000 m right above the city
- Start of the Georgian Military Road — the historic route across the Caucasus
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Vladikavkaz · OGZ
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Sources
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