Khunzakh village is one of the most popular destinations for tourists in mountainous Dagestan. There are many guest houses here, and in the evening, you can relax in cafes and restaurants. There are many natural and historical attractions around Hunzakh. You can spend a whole week here, moving no more than 100 km away from your place of residence. One of the most numerous peoples of Dagestan, the Avars, lives on the Khunzakh plateau.
Khunzakh is located on the mountainous Khunzakh plateau, at an altitude of 2000 meters above sea level. This village is located on the western edge of the huge Tsolotlinsky canyon. Archaeological excavations prove that the first settlements appeared here about 3 thousand years ago, and the first state on the Khunzakh plateau was formed in the 6th century. Its state religion was Christianity. Only the Datuna Temple, built in the 10th century, has survived from that era.
The Tsolotlinsky canyon with steep cliffs is the main natural attraction of the village of Khunzakh. This is a giant rift, showing the scale of the Khunzakh plateau. Three waterfalls fall into the canyon from the north side. The most powerful of them is the Tobot Waterfall. Its height reaches 70 meters. The Itlyatlyar Waterfall is 700 meters away. It is less powerful, but it falls from the very top of the plateau, so it is 15 meters higher. The sheer walls of the canyon on the north side reach almost 100 meters. Further south, the shape of the canyon becomes conical.
On the eastern side of the canyon is the Khunzakh fortress, built in 1867 after the end of the Caucasian War. It was the largest citadel of the tsarist troops in the Caucasus. The Hunzakh Historical Museum is located in the historical part of Hunzakh. A road begins near it, which descends through the Tsolotlinsky Canyon into the Valley of the Avar Koisu River. There are very beautiful views at the turns of this road. Don’t forget that the road is unpaved, although its reconstruction is planned.
12 km from Khunzakh is the Matlas plateau, which is visited by all tourists. On the way, they usually stop in the village of Tsada, where the Dagestani poet Rasul Gamzatov was born. There are several natural attractions near Matlas. The most famous of them is the Matlas Stone Bowl. This is a stone rift in the mountains in the form of three large "halls" and passages between them. Nearby, on the edge of the plateau, it is planned to create a ski resort, and in the Middle Ages Avar khans with their families rested in this place.
Streams flow on the edge of the plateau, which form waterfalls. In one of them there are natural fonts, which were called Khan baths, as Khan`s wives and daughters bathed in them. Now everyone can swim in them. Khan`s Waterfall is located nearby. The Matlas Mosque was built near it, as well as a monument to Leo Tolstoy and Hadji Murad. Be sure to go down the Stone Path of Matlas to the mountain ledge at the foot of the plateau. The stone path was cut manually by order of the Avar khans. The Matlas Waterfall is also located here.
In the valley of the Avar Koisu River, at the foot of the Khunzakh plateau, there are some of the most famous sights of Dagestan: The Karadakh Gorge, as well as the abandoned villages of Old Goor and Old Kahib. People come there even from Makhachkala or Derbent. The distance from Khunzakh to the abandoned villages is 70 km, and if you go through the Tsolotlinsky canyon, then 40 km.
The history of Hunzakh
The first settlements appeared on the site of Khunzakh in the 1st millennium BC, and the Kingdom of Sarir became the first state on the Khunzakh plateau. It was founded in the 6th century by the Huns, who moved to the Khunzakh plateau due to the outbreak of the Arab war with the Khazar Khaganate. The capital of Sarir was the village of Khumraj, founded on the edge of the Tsolotli Canyon. It is now called Khunzah.
In the 7th century, the Arabs captured Derbent, and from there the spread of Islam in Dagestan began. However, the rulers of the kingdom of Sarir, under the influence of missionaries from Georgia and Armenia, adopted Christianity as the state religion.
In the 12th century, a powerful Avar Khanate was formed on the site of the Kingdom of Sarir. Its rulers converted to Islam, after that this religion was established throughout Dagestan. Their power spread far beyond the territory of the Khunzaz plateau. The Khanate existed until 1803, when it became part of the Russian Empire. However, a few years later, the Avars took an active part in the Caucasian war, which was waged by Imam Shamil against the Russian army. In 1867, these lands finally became part of Russia.
