Dargavs

Located in the southern part of the Prigorodny district , on the right bank of the Gizeldon River , in the center of a mountain valley. It is located 37 km south-west of the city of Vladikavkaz .

The origin of the name of the village has several explanations - Osset. duargus (“the gatekeeper or defender of the gorge”), or from the Osset. darg ("long") + fæz ("glade"). ^[2]

The area where the village is located has been inhabited since the Bronze Age. A large number of archaeological sites have been discovered here, including the Alanian burial ground of the late 1st millennium BC. e.

In the Middle Ages, Dargavs was one of the main centers of the formation of Tagaura society . According to historical and genealogical traditions, Tsarevich Taga lived here, the ancestor of clans and surnames belonging to the upper class of East Ossetia . Many noble ( Aldar ) surnames of Ossetia came from Dargavs.

The resettlement of most of the inhabitants of the village to the plain began after the foundation of the Mozdok fortress in 1763 . In 1830, during the uprising in Ossetia, tsarist troops broke into Dargavs under the command of General Abkhazov . Many inhabitants were killed, several towers were destroyed. The leaders of the uprising were exiled to Siberia .

Currently, the population continues to decline, due to the Kolka glacier going down in September 2002 .

The village is very rich in various architectural monuments , it is especially known for battle towers and the "city of the dead" ( Osset. Dærgyævsy zæppædztæ ), consisting of 97 crypts of various types. On the banks of the river Uallagdon there is a tower ( Osset. Mæsyg ) of Mamsurovs, 16 meters high. Despite the fact that the upper part of the tower is destroyed, it impresses with its size and impeccable masonry quality. The arched entrance is located at a height of 2 meters; in case of danger, people climbed the attached wooden staircase, dragged it behind them, locking the entrance with an iron-clad door. Mamsurov’s tower is a striking example of Ossetian stone architecture, only the most affluent families could afford the construction of such towers.

Alikov’s tower rises above the “city of the dead”, a kilometer from the village, on the slope of Mount Raminyrag. Masig has four balconies ( mashikulya ). This tower controlled the approaches to Dargavs from the Genaldon gorge. Also known as the Badtiev Tower, which captured the tower later. The tower was hit hard by an earthquake in 1923 .

On the eastern outskirts of the aul, there is a residential tower of the Degoevs, next to which the ruins of the Degoevs battle tower were discovered. The Degoevs' residential tower was a well-defended fortress house, inside of which there were: a hearth above which a chain hung, a carved wooden chair for an older man ( histr ), low three-legged food tables ( fang ), a water tub hollowed out of a tree trunk, wooden improvised beds, a shop, wooden and clay dishes were placed on the shelves, cold and firearms occupied an honorable place on the wall.

The following architectural monuments also exist in Dargavs to various degrees of preservation: the Taroev complex, the Sakhmanov castle (galuan), the Djibilov tower, the Sasiev tower, the Baimatov tower and Ghana, as well as many other monuments of unknown identity.

• City of 10,000 dead
• Dargavs today (inaccessible link)