The old city of Derbent is located on a narrow strip between the Naryn-Kala fortress and the Caspian Sea. From the north and south, the city was protected by fortress walls built in the 6th century. This place is of strategic importance for controlling the trade route between Persia and Northern Europe, so the ancient city was formed here more than 2000 years ago.
The Naryn-Kala fortress, which has survived to the present day, was built in the 6th century, during the reign of the Persian Shah Khosrow I. After the construction of the fortress was completed, he immediately began the construction of a powerful fortress wall that stretched from the fortress to the Caspian Sea. It was necessary to protect Persia from the attacks of nomads from the north. After the construction of one wall was completed, another wall was built 300-350 meters to the south of it. Later they were called the North Wall and the South Wall. Both Fortress walls of Derbent stretch parallel to each other for 3 kilometers from the fortress to the sea.
The old city of Derbent was built by a narrow strip between these walls. Its oldest part is located on the hillside between the Naryn-Kala fortress and the Juma Mosque. This area has been divided into Magals since ancient times. In the 6th-9th centuries, 9 magals were formed in the old city of Derbent.
Magal is a conditional division of the city into neighborhoods where people of the same nationality lived. Dagestan is now home to more than 60 nationalities, 30 of them are considered indigenous. Such a number of nationalities is due to the fact that a variety of peoples and countries have been fighting for the lands that control the trade route between Persia and Eastern Europe for several millennia.
Residential buildings in Magals were formed around its center, where there was a mosque, a bathhouse and water sources. The chaotic layout of the magals with a maze of narrow streets in the old city of Derbent has been preserved to this day. Many houses were rebuilt in the 20th century, but some of the houses retain the appearance of the 17th-19th century. Most of the houses are built on foundations that were laid several centuries ago.
The old city of Derbent is included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List, along with the Naryn-Kala fortress and the Juma Mosque. Nowadays, the magals of the old city of Derbent need restoration, chaotic restructuring and laying of communications in the form of everywhere hanging wires, alas, greatly spoil the appearance of this architectural monument of antiquity.
