Fortress of Vladikavkaz

The history of the fortress dates back to the autumn of 1783, when the commander of the Caucasian line, Pavel Sergeevich Potemkin, received instructions from the government to build a Russian fortress in the Central Caucasus . According to Pavel Sergeevich Potemkin and the Astrakhan governor Krechetnikov, the most suitable place was the Elkhotovo tract, where Potemkin built a fortress on the right bank of the Terek river near Elkhotovo , calling it after his uncle Grigori Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tavrichesky Potemkin. But the Ossetians refused to settle near her, and in the military-strategic sense for the Russian command, it was not effective enough. In addition to the Ossetians, who insisted on building a fortress closer to the mountains, the Georgian king Irakli II also raised the issue of building a Russian fortress on the eve of the Darial Gorge . This, as well as the own interests of the Russian government, influenced the decision to build a new fortress.

Report of P. S. Potemkin

On April 25, 1784, General-Lieutenant Pavel Sergeevich Potemkin, near the Ingush village of Zaur-Kov, lays a new fortress. In fact, Zaur-Kov is an Ingush settlement quite remote from the fortress. ^[1] ) writes a report to Field Marshal Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin : "... at the entrance of the mountains, I ordered that a fortress be set up at my designated place as Vladikavkaz." ^[2] According to Potto ’s description "... May 6, 1784, after a solemn prayer with water consecration, with the thunder of Russian cannons, the fourth, last fortification, called Vladikavkaz, was laid as a sign of our dominion over the Caucasus Mountains" ^[3] . Later, on May 9, 1785, by decree of Catherine ери , a church was built in the fortress built. ^[four]

Potto describes the fortress as relatively large, armed with twelve guns. By the middle of the first half of the nineteenth century, in addition to the twelve cannons, there was a commandant’s house, an infirmary, several officers' houses, barracks, kitchens, a guardhouse, a barn with a cellar, and other buildings. There was a clear layout of the streets inside, which was followed in the further development of the growing city of Vladikavkaz.

By 1826, the fortress had two bastions and three semi-bastions. The bastions of the northern side of the fortifications were called Mozdok and Vladikavkaz. On the eastern side were the half-bastions of the Jolly and Field, on the southern side - Tiflis. And beside the vorstadt there were two Ossetian settlements: on the south, Irykau, and on the west, the aul of Tulatovs. ^[five]

Platon Alexandrovich Zubov , having been in the fortress, describes it in his essay from 1834 "Pictures of the Caucasus Territory". He writes: “The buildings in Vladikavkaz are of a rather beautiful appearance ... Some houses have gardens. There are few shops, but for the residents it is enough, because in them you can find everything you need and even luxury goods. ” ^[6]

In 1786, a rather complicated military-political situation developed. In this regard, Russia was forced to make concessions to Turkey and tear down all four fortifications, and withdraw the military units in them to the Caucasian line.

After the signing of the Treaty of Iasi , Russia was again able to restore the line of its fortifications from Mozdok to Daryal, and in 1800 the fortress was again restored. January 4, 1804, Catherine issued a decree форми on the formation of garrison battalions to guard the fortress of Vladikavkaz. In this regard, two companies were sent from the Astrakhan regiment and one company from the Mozdok garrison battalion. ^[7]

Development

Gradually, the fortress began to be built up with the necessary buildings and buildings. So for 1805-1808, in the fortress, according to Major General Ivelich , about 19 buildings were built, among them were the soldiers' barracks, a house for passing masters, a house for a doctor, and so on. ^[eight]

By 1837, the fortress had the form of a bastion of a closed citadel, armed with 7 tools of different caliber. At the same time, it was recognized to bring her into a better position, taking into account the military operations carried out by the Russian command in the Caucasus. At that time, the citadel of the fortress, which occupied an area uncomfortable for expansion, was separated from the fort and transferred from the lowland to the plane of the hill. In anticipation of such an important visit, a large number of commanders gathered. Many who had not been in the fortress for a long time did not recognize it, since Vladikavkaz had changed noticeably and now resembled a small provincial town. The emperor, arriving in the evening, stopped at the curfew, and the next day went to Ekaterinograd. ^[9]

Three years later, in 1840, a new era of transformations began, changing the fortress in appearance, borders, administrative structure and other areas. Including the garrison was strengthened. It consisted of the 77th Tenginsky, 78th Navaginsky, Vilna Chasseurs Regiments, 6th, 7th and 8th Caucasian Linear Regiments and an artillery team.

Arrival of the Decembrists ^[10]

From the end of 1826 groups of Decembrists arrived in the Caucasus. Some of them were distributed in the Vladikavkaz garrison. Among these groups were Matvey Demyanovich Lappa , Nikolai Nikolaevich Semichev , Alexander Semenovich Gangeblov , Boris Andreevich Bodisko , Nikolai Nikolaevich Orzhitsky and others.

1829 new inflow of Decembrists to the Caucasus. In the same year A.S. Pushkin comes here and throughout the trip is surrounded by Decembrists. He describes his visit in his work Journey to Arzrum. In 1829, in the ranks of the Separate Caucasian Corps, there were over 65 demotivated Decembrist officers and more than 3,000 repressed soldiers participating in the uprising.

A special place among the Decembrists who have visited Ossetia is occupied by V.S. Tolstoy . He used a trip to Ossetia to study the region. The result was two valuable articles: "A trip to Ossetia in 1847" and "Tagaurtsy".

Prerequisites for reorganization

In the 50s of the XIX century, the fortress of Vladikavkaz became one of the most important structures of the Caucasus region. With the expansion of the boundaries of the suburbs and the number of people, trade began to develop rapidly, thereby attracting more and more new people. In place of the old thatched houses, brick buildings began to appear with a very beautiful architecture. Some dirty, impassable streets were paved with stone. Divorced boulevards and gardens, and previously unsuitable for use the area is leveled and covered with rubble.

As of 1852, there were 909 houses, 25 streets, 5 squares, 6 churches (4 Orthodox, 1 Armenian Gregorian and 1 Roman Catholic), 3 educational institutions (the Ossetian religious school, the school of soldiers' sons, and the Elizabeth school) in the fortress. 7 inns, 2 taverns, and the total area occupied by the fortress was equal to 166 desyatinas . Among the permanent residents, there were 3,653 people (of which 1842 men, 1811 women). ^[eleven]

Such a rapid pace of development gave the ground for the reorganization of the fortress into the city.

Converting a fortress to a city

In the middle of the XIX century, the fortress of Vladikavkaz, which had previously served as an extraordinary military-strategic point, began to perform another, no less important function of familiarizing local peoples and highlanders to peaceful civilian life. Vladikavkaz also, despite the distance from the main economic centers of Russia, was in a very advantageous location for trade. The fortress also served as a folding point for all goods that transit from Russia to Transcaucasia and vice versa. To increase the influx of new capital, as well as to improve the situation of all branches of agriculture, a letter was sent to the senatorial governor and chairman of the Caucasian Committee on November 4, 1859 to consider the issue of transforming the fortress of Vladikavkaz into the city.

The answer did not have to wait long, and on March 31, 1860, Vladikavkaz officially acquired city status by decree of the governing senate on behalf of Alexander II . ^[12]

The fortress was located in the historical center of modern Vladikavkaz. Its location is determined by the modern buildings of the Government House of RNO-Alania, School No. 5, Pushkin Square, Freedom Square and adjacent streets.