Photo: architectural monuments, castles, fortresses and palaces, other places, Fortress Naryn-Kala, Derbent

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Naryn-Kala Fortress: the Defender on the Silk Road

Architectural Monuments • Castles, Fortresses and Palaces • Other places

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Naryn-Kala, the ancient fortress of Russia, was built on the shore of the Caspian Sea fifteen thousand years ago. This is the landmark of Derbent inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The Citadel guarded the strategically important Derbent passage between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains and served as the most important outpost on one of the routes of the Silk Road.

The remains of the defensive walls of Naryn-Kala Fortress have been well preserved in the old part of Derbent. Two high walls stretched from the fortress far to the sea, serving as an external protection for the city and the port, where ships with goods had been arriving. The same walls stretched to the Caucasian Ridge for 40 kilometers, but almost nothing has remained from them. In addition to the walls, towers, gates and fortifications, several other buildings have been preserved in the territory of the fortress: the khan’s baths, water tanks with silver impregnations, the underground Zindan prison and a cross-domed church of the V century, which later served as a temple of fire-worshipers and a mosque.

Serious restoration work was carried out in the Fortress Naryn-Kala in celebration of the 2000 anniversary of the city. Different points of the citadel offer views of Derbent and the Caspian Sea. You can buy an entrance ticket and walk around the fortress by yourself, but it is better to book an excursion.

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