Chechnya.

History

People lived by Lake Kezenoyam as early as around 40,000 BC. Farming, irrigation and domestic animals arrived in the Neolithic, and around 3000 BC came the wheel, horse riding and metalworking. In the 14th–15th centuries a Chechen principality flourished. In the same period, after the Mongol and Timurid invasions, life shifted into the mountains, where tower villages grew up. The Groznaya fortress was founded on the Sunzha in 1818 and became a town in 1870; from 1893, when oil production and the railway arrived, Grozny grew quickly.

Culture & traditions

Chechen belongs to the Northeast Caucasian family and is closely related to Ingush. For centuries society rested on teips, of which there are about 130, and on tukhums, unions of teips. The traditional code of nokhchalla values equality, generosity, hospitality and respect for women, and the classic greeting 'marsha oylla' means 'come in freedom'. The wolf is the people's national symbol. Folk memory lives on in epic songs and tales.

Nature

The highest point is Tebulosmta (4,493 m) on the border with Georgia. The main river is the Terek, and Grozny stands on its tributary the Sunzha; the south is cut by gorges, including the Argun gorge. Lake Kezenoyam lies at 1,870 m, reaches 74 m deep and is home to an endemic trout found nowhere else. Even in summer its water stays around 5 °C, and it freezes in winter. On the plains the climate is continental, with hot summers.

Food & drink

Chechen cooking is built on meat, wild garlic, cheese, pumpkin and corn, seasoned with onion, garlic, pepper and thyme. The signature dish is zhizhig-galnash: boiled dough dumplings served with mutton, chicken or beef. Other favourites are chepalgash, flatbreads filled with cottage cheese and wild garlic; khingalsh, half-moon pies with pumpkin and butter; and zhizhig-chorpa meat soup. A traditional sweet is made from ground flax seed with honey or sugar.

Practical information

Grozny has an airport with scheduled flights, including international ones, and the railway reached the city back in 1893. The republic is on Moscow time. Summers on the plains are hot and winters cold. For the mountains and Lake Kezenoyam, summer and early autumn are best.

What to see

• Lake Kezenoyam — the deepest lake in the Caucasus, at 1,870 metres.
• Argun Gorge — a mountain valley with tower villages.
• Tsoi-Pede — a medieval necropolis and towers, on UNESCO's tentative list since 2024.
• Maysta and Kharachoy — historic tower complexes in the mountains.
• Tebulosmta — the highest peak of the Eastern Caucasus.

Cities on the map

• Grozny 333,672