The city of Makhachkala is located on the shore of the Caspian Sea. It is a convenient place to travel around the surroundings to the Sarykum Dune and the Sulak Canyon. However, the sights of Makhachkala are also of interest. There are museums that are compactly located in the city center. They are worth visiting if you want to get to know the culture of Dagestan better.
The airport is located in the south of Makhachkala, in the city of Kaspiysk. On the way to the central districts of Makhachkala, you can stop at the Juma Mosque, which is one of the largest mosques in Russia. After that, you need to move to the shore of the Caspian Sea, where the main attractions of Makhachkala are located.
Attractions of Makhachkala
Near the cozy City Garden, there are three museums of Makhachkala: the National Museum of Dagestan, the Museum of Fine Arts of Makhachkala and the Museum of Dagestan Village. Before going to Mountainous Dagestan, it will be interesting to visit them to be acquainted with the ethnographic and cultural features of the region.
The City Garden is a small but cozy city park, which can be attributed to the sights of Makhachkala. It borders the Rodopsky Boulevard. This boulevard is often called the Makhachkala Embankment. Architects have created a beautiful art space on the boulevard for the recreation of residents and guests of Makhachkala. Alas, the railway prevents creating a full-fledged atmosphere of a coastal city. It was laid in the 19th century along the seashore.
From Rodopsky Boulevard you can go to the City Beach by an underground passage under the railway. The sandy beach of Makhachkala stretches for 600 meters, and the width exceeds 100 meters. There is a cafe and other infrastructure for a comfortable stay. The swimming season on the Caspian Sea begins at the end of June and lasts until October.
If you are not a fan of history and ethnography, and you are not interested in visiting museums, then in any case you need to stay in Makhachkala for at least 1-2 days to plan a visit to the Sarykum Dune and the Sulak Canyon. These wonderful sights of Dagestan can be called unique natural monuments of Russia. The Sarykum dune is the highest dune in Europe, and the Sulak Canyon is the deepest canyon in Europe.
Sarykum Dune is located 18 kilometers northwest of Makhachkala. Its visit will take half a day, and it can be combined with a visit to the sights of Makhachkala. The next day you can go to the Sulak Canyon. It is located 75 kilometers from Makhachkala. If you want to see it from different viewpoints, then you need to leave early in the morning and plan to visit the canyon all day.
During the trip to the Sulak Canyon, do not forget to make a stop at the Chirkeysky water reservoir. It is located among the picturesque sandstone cliffs. Many people come here for picnics, but a short stop for 1-2 hours will be enough for tourists.
History of Makhachkala
Compared to the ancient city of Derbent, located 130 kilometers away, Makhachkala is a young city. Mentions of Derbent can be found in the works of the Greek geographer Hecateus of Miletus in the 6th century BC. Makhachkala was founded much later - in 1844.
A small settlement of Tarki in these places has existed for several centuries. Now it is a district in the east of Makhachkala. The fortified seaport, which a century later became the capital of Dagestan, was founded in 1844 and was named Petrovsk, and then it was called Port-Petrovsk. It was named after the Caspian campaign of Peter I in 1722.
Thanks to the railway laid in the second half of the 19th century from Rostov-on-Don to Baku, the Port of Petrovsk first became a major logistics center on the Caspian Sea, and then a major industrial city.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the capital of Dagestan was the city of Buinaksk, which is located 45 kilometers west of Makhachkala. However, the influence of the Port-Petrovsk on the economy of Dagestan was so significant that in 1923 it was declared the capital of Dagestan. At the same time, the Port of Petrovsk was named Makhachkala in honor of the Dagestani revolutionary Bolshevik Magomed-Ali Dadakhaev. Among the Bolsheviks, he was known under the pseudonym "Makhach". The word "Kala" in the Turkic language means "city".
