Current Time in Vladikavkaz, Russia

Vladikavkaz stands in the far south of European Russia, at the point where the Terek River bursts out of the Caucasus mountains onto the plain. Snow covered peaks rise directly behind the city, and on clear days the wall of the Greater Caucasus fills the southern horizon. The name means ruler of the Caucasus, a reference to its position at the northern entrance to the Darial Gorge, the ancient pass that carries the Georgian Military Road into the mountains and on toward Tbilisi.

The city is the capital of North Ossetia-Alania and home to around three hundred thousand people. It has long been the cultural and political centre of the Ossetian people, whose language belongs to the Iranian branch and descends from the tongue of the medieval Alans, giving the region a heritage quite distinct from its neighbours.

Vladikavkaz was founded in 1784 as a Russian fortress guarding the road through the mountains, and it grew rapidly in the nineteenth century into a garrison town, trading post and administrative seat. Writers and officers passing through on their way to the Caucasus frontier left descriptions of its bustling markets and mixed population of Ossetians, Russians, Georgians, Armenians and Persians. Grand nineteenth century buildings still line Prospekt Mira, a handsome pedestrian avenue where trams have run since the beginning of the twentieth century. The city endured heavy fighting on its approaches during the Second World War, when German forces advancing on the Caucasus oil fields were halted nearby.

Its most photographed building is the Mukhtarov Mosque, a graceful Sunni mosque with slender minarets built by an Azerbaijani oil magnate and standing on a terrace above the rushing Terek. Nearby are Armenian and Orthodox churches, reflecting the religious mix of the region, and the National Museum of North Ossetia presents Alanian archaeology, weaponry and traditional dress. A cable car climbs to viewpoints above the city, and a large park stretches along the river.

The real attraction, however, lies in the surrounding mountains. Within an hour or two the traveller can reach the Kurtat and Fiagdon valleys with their stone watchtowers, the ski slopes of Tsey beneath a glacier, the wild beauty of Digoria, and the eerie necropolis at Dargavs, known as the city of the dead, where dozens of stone crypts stand on a hillside. Ossetian culture is famous for its epic Nart sagas, its three ritual pies served at every celebration, and a tradition of hospitality that visitors remember long afterwards.

Trams, buses and shared minibuses serve the city, an airport at Beslan handles flights to Moscow, and the highway south is the main land route between Russia and Georgia. North Ossetian State University and several specialised institutes support a large student population, and the city has produced notable musicians, including the conductor Valery Gergiev.

Vladikavkaz is valued for its mountain setting, its layered history and its role as the gateway to the central Caucasus.