Arkhyz is a village in the Zelenchuk region of
Karachay-Cherkessia. The administrative center of the Arkhyz rural
settlement. It is located in the basin of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk
River.
The “mountainous region of Arkhyz” includes the upper
part (upper reaches) of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk gorge and its
tributaries, including the villages of Arkhyz and Nizhny Arkhyz. The
settlement is located at the bottom of a large depression, on a
river terrace (1450-1500 m).
This mountainous region is located in the Western
Caucasus between the spurs of the Main Range. From the north and
northwest, it is bounded by the long Abishira-Akhuba ridge (a spur
of the Lateral ridge), separating it from the basin of the Chilik,
Urup and Kyafar rivers. From the east, the Uzhum ridge rises, which
is a watershed between the Marukha and Kizgych rivers.
In the
south, the Arkhyz region closes the Main Caucasian ridge with rocky
peaks and significant glaciers. The largest of them are Sofiyskiy,
Bolshoi Kizgychskiy and Psyshskiy. Between the sources of the
Kizgych and Psysh rivers, to the north of the Main ridge, spurs
branch off with the dominating peak Sofia (3637 m) over the
surrounding mountains, which is considered the symbol of Arkhyz. Its
ridge, which abruptly drops off to the north, forms the Sofia saddle
and is connected to the Cheget-Chat ridge by a watershed between the
Sofia and Kizgych rivers. To the northwest of Sofia, parallel to the
Cheget-Chat ridge, the Sofia ridge with rocky peaks Dzash-Kaya (3354
m) and Kush-Kaya (3226 m) branches off.
From the south-west
and west, the region is bounded by the Arkasar ridge with the
Zakzan-Syrt peak (3096 m). It is connected by a low cofferdam to the
Abishira-Akhuba ridge, forming the Phiya Pass. The Arkasar ridge is
a watershed between the Bolshoy Zelenchuk and Bolshaya Laba basins.
South of the Dukka pass from the Arkasar ridge to the north, the
short Gabulu-Chat ridge branches off. Its highest point is
Goryacheva Rock (3045 m). The highest point of the Arkhyz region is
the Pshish peak (3790 m).
The main waterway is Bolshoi
Zelenchuk, with a length of about 170 kilometers (from the
confluence of the Psysh and Kizgych rivers to the confluence of the
Kuban). The most abundant tributary of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk is the
Psysh with its tributaries Sofia, Amanauz, Belaya, Kyzyl-su,
Koshevaya. The tributaries of the Rechepsta and Dukka flow into the
Arkhyz river. The latter receives the waters of Malaya Dukka and
Temir-Kulak. Maly Kizgych, Bugoy-Chat, Chigordali and others flow
into Kizgych.
There are more than 75 lakes in the distant
surroundings of Arkhyz. They are concentrated in the alpine zone at
an altitude of 2300 to 2850 meters above sea level. There are 13
lakes in the Morg-Syrt tract, in the Kizgych basins - 15, Sofia - 7,
Psysh - 17, Dukka - 18, Rechepsty - 3. Directly the village of
Arkhyz is located on the left bank of Bolshoi Zelenchuk at an
altitude of 1470 meters above sea level.
The
vegetation of the Arkhyz region is very diverse. There are over 140
species of tree and shrub species here. In the upper reaches of the
Kizgych, a unique area of the fir forest has been preserved.
Kizgych firs reach 60 meters in height and one and a half meters in
girth. Some specimens live up to 700 years. This forest area is a
remnant of those forest areas that dominated the North Caucasus in
the past centuries. Also in Arkhyz relict plants of the Tertiary
period have been preserved: Caucasian pine, spruce, yew, Caucasian
plane tree (beech), three-leafed watch.
The upper border of
the forest is closed by a low-growing birch, which is replaced by
thickets of rhododendron and subalpine meadows. Even higher is the
belt of alpine meadows, reaching the border of eternal snows and
glaciers.
Among the wild animals in this mountainous area
live: Caucasian deer, bison, bear, tur, chamois, wild boar, wolf,
lynx, fox, wild cat, marten, etc. There are at least 150 species of
birds. Of the greatest interest are the Caucasian black grouse, the
chukar, the snowcock and the largest birds in the world: the brown
vulture, the griffon vulture, the vulture and the bearded lamb.
The heights of the Abishir-Akhuba ridge, which protect Arkhyz from cold winds, make the climate of Arkhyz mild and extremely favorable. The average annual temperature is about + 5 ° С, the average temperature in July is + 15 ° С, in January - −5.5 ° С. The winter, snowy and mild, lasts four months; the first snow usually falls in mid or early November. Summer in Arkhyz is not hot, there is no stuffiness in summer, thanks to the fresh mountain air. Autumn is dry and bright. The number of sunny days per year reaches three hundred. The greatest amount of precipitation falls in May. Due to the direction of the valley from east to west, in summer it is illuminated by the sun for an unusually long time - from 6 am to 7 pm.
Archaeological finds allow us
to establish that at the end of the II millennium BC in these
places lived tribes-carriers of the Koban culture.
Along the
Bolshoy Zelenchuk valley through modern Arkhyz and further to the
Bolshoi Laba valley through the Phiya pass, then through the
Sancharo pass to Pskhu, and finally through the Dou to the Gumista
valley, an ancient trade route passed, connecting the North Caucasus
with the Black Sea coast in Dioscuriada (Sukhum). Moreover, this
route was a fragment of the Great Silk Road from China through
Central Asia to the Black Sea and further to Europe.
Most of
the monuments were left behind by the Alans, who lived here from the
beginning of the 1st millennium until 1396, when the cavalry of
Tamerlane passed through the Caucasus in a squall. In the IV
century, the Huns invaded the Caucasus, seizing the Alanian state.
On the territory of Arkhyz was the capital of Alania - Maas
(Nizhne-Arkhyz settlement).
During the existence of the
Alanian state, Arkhyz became one of the centers of early
Christianity. Here are the remains of a large medieval Nizhne-Arkhyz
settlement, on the territory of which three Christian churches have
survived. They were built by masters of the Byzantine school in the
middle of the 10th century, several decades before the appearance of
the first Christian religious buildings in Ancient Russia. On the
other bank of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River, a rock image of Christ
the Savior, created in the 10th century, was discovered.
On the wall of the
"Northern" church in 1802, Major Potemkin, who visited Nizhny
Arkhyz, discovered the image of Nicholas the Wonderworker and the
inscription in Greek "St. Nicholas the Patron of Aspe". It is also
possible that “Aspe” is the name of the Alanian capital.
In
the XIV century, due to climate change, avalanches began to pose a
serious threat to the inhabitants of the village. Until now, in the
area of Arkhyz, in the tract "Old dwelling", you can see the
remains of powerful barrage structures. But after a plague epidemic
broke out at this time, the valley was abandoned.
The modern
development of the valley began at the beginning of the 20th
century. Founded here in 1922, a small Karachai village was named -
"Old dwelling", but the name did not catch on and a few years later
the village began to be called Arkhyz.
During World War II,
Arkhyz became the site of fierce battles for the mountain passes
leading to the Transcaucasus. After the war, part of the region (the
valley of the Kizgych River) was included in the Teberda State
Reserve.
Modern Arkhyz is a settlement with a
population of over four hundred inhabitants. The basis of their
existence is the reserve, forestry, resort and tourist business, a
bottling plant of the same name (carbonic mineral waters are brought
to the surface in the Arkhyz valley). In the Arkhyz area there are a
number of tourist centers and sanatoriums - tourist centers
"Arkhyz", "Alania", "Sulakhat", "Narat", "Pine Coast", the base of
the University "RGEU RINH" (РГЭУ РИНХ), boarding houses "Energetik",
"Krasnaya Skala", "Ministry of Internal Affairs "In the village, the
tourist center" Romance "in the valley of the Arkhyz river, the
tourist center" Taulu "in the Sofia valley and others.
Arkhyz
can be called one of the main tourist centers of the Caucasus. The
area allows you to make mountain hikes of the first or fourth
category of difficulty. Bolshoi Zelenchuk is popular with water
tourists. Relatively safe, it allows you to make hikes of the third
category of difficulty, at the same time without having more
difficult and dangerous obstacles. In recent years, equestrian,
rafting, cycling and other types of tourism have been developing in
Arkhyz. The region is also promising for climbers.
The
largest astrophysical observatory is located in the Nizhny Arkhyz
area, which includes BTA, the largest optical telescope in Russia
with a mirror diameter of 6 meters. Downstream of the Bolshoy
Zelenchuk River, near the Zelenchukskaya stanitsa, the RATAN-600
radio telescope operates, which has the largest receiving antenna
diameter in the world - 600 meters.