The attraction of the Caucasus

Breakfast at the hotel. 

Meeting with a local guide. 

A trip with an excursion to the high-altitude lake Kezenoy Am.

Lake Kezenoi-Am in size and depth can be put on a par with the lake. The Ritsa in Abkhazia or the Blue Lake in Kabardino-Balkaria. 

It is located at an altitude of 1869 m above sea level. 

The coastline is 10 km, the depth is 76 meters, the total area of the water surface is 4 square kilometers. 

The lake is located on the territory of two republics at once. 

The water in the lake is cold, in summer the surface temperature does not rise above 17-18 degrees Celsius. 

Stop in the village of Vedeno, where you will see the walls of the fortress, which is more than 200 years old.

At the local market you can buy tortillas, pita bread, seasonal fruits, homemade cheese, honey.

Lunch at a cafe on the way — on your own. 

The ascent by transport (about 24 km) to the Harami pass (2400 m above sea level). 

After stopping at the pass, where the beauty you see will make your head spin, you will begin the descent to the lake (about 11 km) by transport.

Next, your way will pass through the village of Kharachoy, a village famous for its location and history. 

The road connecting Chechnya and Dagestan has been passing through it since time immemorial. 

The legendary name of Zelemkhan Kharachoevsky, the famous Abrek, is associated with this place. 

Next, you will visit the ruins of the ancient village of Khoy, where you will see a six-story battle tower, petroglyphs, tombstones, arched structures that are found only in the local places of the Cheberloy society.

Arrival in the city of Shali, where a new mosque "Pride of Muslims" was opened in the fall of 2019. 

The mosque occupies an area of more than five hectares in the city center, next to the high-rise complex "Shali City". 

Four minarets rise to 63 meters, while the height of the central dome is more than 40 meters.

The territory is decorated with 12 oriental-style fountains and marble gazebos where you can take a bath before prayer.

Visit to Argun and the Aymani Kadyrova Mosque, the first mosque in Russia built in the high-tech style.

During the day, depending on the weather, the arches of the mosque change their color from light gray to turquoise blue.

At night, the mosque and the surrounding areas are illuminated with multicolored LED lamps and spotlights.

Return to Grozny. 

Free time in the city. 

Dinner (on your own).

Breakfast. 

Check out of the hotel. 

Transfer to the capital of North Ossetia - Alania - Vladikavkaz. 

Vladikavkaz is one of the largest cultural, economic and industrial centers of the North Caucasus. 

Sightseeing car-walking tour of the city center, where more than 70 historical and architectural monuments of the late XIX — early XX centuries have been preserved, the embankment of the Terek River, the park. 

The capital is decorated with views of the Main Caucasian Ridge and the Kazbek Mountain.

The Armenian Church, the German Lutheran Church, Sunni and Shiite mosques, two Orthodox churches, including the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, have survived to this day. 

Lunch with national cuisine (included). 

Accommodation at the Vladikavkaz 3* hotel. 

17:00 Departure from the hotel to the thermal springs "Biragzang" in the mountains in the open air (without a guide). 

There are 3 swimming pools on the territory: main 35-38°C, small hot 40-43°C, small cold 5-15°C).

Bathing - 1 hour (surcharge for entrance tickets from 300 rubles / person).

The thermal spring springs from a depth of more than 2000 meters.

Bathing in it helps to successfully treat various diseases of the gastrointestinal tract; skin and joint diseases; gynecological problems; cardiovascular and neurological diseases. 

It is not recommended to visit the pool during the period of exacerbation of diseases. 

Return to Vladikavkaz.

Dinner (on your own).

Important! The route passes through the border area. Citizens of the CIS countries need to issue a border pass in advance: documents are submitted 45 days before the intended trip.

Breakfast at the hotel. 

Meeting with a local guide. 

Departure to mountainous Ingushetia. 

Inspection of the medieval center of Ingushetia — Egikal (from the observation deck). 

According to historians, the complex was a cultural, political and economic center of the Middle Ages. 

Visit the Vnushki tower complex — it consists of three main towers, two of which stand on top of one cliff, the third on the opposite cliff. 

The towers of the complex attract attention from afar, they are located in the picturesque Guloi Khi River gorge against the backdrop of impressive cliffs and ridges of the Caucasus. 

Lunch on the way (dry ration). 

Getting acquainted with the oldest Christian church in Russia — Thaba-Yerdy in the Assinsky gorge, on the right tributary of the Assy River, near the border with Georgia. 

Historians estimate the date of construction of this temple ambiguously: the scope of the discussion is 700 years, from the VIII to the XIV century inclusive. 

Thaba-Yerdy is amazing because for centuries it has been a material example of the intertwining of architectural and cultural traditions of a thousand years ago. 

Return to the hotel. 

Dinner (on your own).

Breakfast at the hotel. 

Meeting with the guide at the hotel.

Departure for an excursion on an all-terrain vehicle. 

The Alagir Gorge is a kind of gateway to Transcaucasia.

In ancient times, the gorge played the role of a fortress – Ossetians built fortifications, bastions, castles, and watchtowers in this area. 

Everyone who travels from Vladikavkaz to Alagir invariably slows down at the entrance to the village of Dzuarikau – here, by the mountain river Fiagdon, seven white cranes froze in eternal flight over a gray rock, touching their wings. 

The monument is dedicated to the Gazdanov brothers, who one by one went to the front during the Great Patriotic War and did not return to their native Ossetian village. 

Our next stop is the Cathedral of the Ascension of the Lord in Alagir (1851), built in the Byzantine style from a local material – pinkish-gray tuff.

Another interesting place to visit is the Alan Epiphany Convent. 

The first sisters settled in Alagir in May 2002 – in an unfinished house of three hundred square meters on twenty acres of uncultivated land. 

Now on the territory of the monastery there is a temple, a hotel, a separate building for monastic workshops, a large monastic refectory, a nursing building and a Rehabilitation center for children injured in terrorist attacks and hostilities. 

8 km from the city of Alagir, before entering the gorge, you will be greeted by the monument of St. Uastyrji, the most revered in Ossetia.

It is located right in the rock, at a height of 22 m above the ground and weighs 28 tons.

On this day, you will also visit the capital of ancient Alagir – the village of Verkhny Mizur (XVI century), so called for its impressive size – it stretches on several slopes at the foot of a Rocky ridge. 

The landmark of the village, in addition to the size, remains of towers, crypts and tsyrts, is the church of the Archangel Michael, which was built by the Marzoev family in 1890. 

Lunch. 

After lunch, we will go to the oldest high—altitude settlements of the 13th century Ursdon gorge - Tsamad, Dagom and Donisar.

We will see incredible plateaus and glades with stunning views of the Caucasus Range. 

You may encounter herds of wild horses.

And, of course, here you will fully experience the meditative state of "silence in the mountains", for which they return here again and again. 

Return to Vladikavkaz. 

Free time. 

Dinner (on your own).

Breakfast at the hotel. 

Room release (we take things with us). 

Departure to the Karmadon gorge (the second name is Genaldon). 

The Genaldon River flows along the bottom of this gorge. 

There is also a fairly large Kolka glacier, the site of the tragedy that happened to Sergei Bodrov in 2002.

We climb a little higher and we are already in the Kurtatinsky gorge - one of the most picturesque in North Ossetia (it has a length of more than 50 km). 

The gorge was formed as a result of the breakthrough of rock massifs by the Fiagdon River. 

Stop for a photo shoot in the Kadargavan gorge, where the river cut a hundred-meter gap in the mountain range. 

A visit to the Dzivgis rock fortress, a complex of defensive structures built in the XIII-XVI centuries, and the towers of the Kurtag and Tag brothers. 

Magnificent views of the mountain panorama open from the observation deck of the tower. 

Acquaintance with the history of the ancestral castles of the Ossetians. 

Today we will find out where the genealogy of more than a hundred surnames of North Ossetia originates from.

The pearl of the Kurtatinsky Gorge is the village of Tsymyti, located in the upper reaches of the Kurtatinsky gorge.

Picturesque views, crypts, towers with petroglyphs - all this awaits us here. 

The tour will continue with a visit to the village of Verkhny Fiagdon and the Holy Dormition Monastery, the highest mountain temple in Russia.

Lunch with dishes of national cuisine, where we will also be able to observe and learn how real Ossetian pies are made.

Transfer to Vladikavkaz airport for flights after 20:00.