Erzi Nature Reserve Tower village of the 15th century Erzi The village of Erzi

IN Dzheyrakh gorge and in the vicinity it is difficult to find a point from which one cannot see at least one tower or an ancient burial ground: now, after the deportation and mass resettlement of the highlanders to the plain, these places have become sparsely populated, but it was here that the historical homeland of the strongest Ingush teips was once located.

Several centuries ago, the Ingush were divided into several teip associations-shahar people: Dzheyrakhs, Tsorintsy, Metskhalians, Khamkhins . Stand apart orstkhoy, whom both Ingush and Chechens consider theirs at the same time, and sometimes singled out as a separate nationality.

Large settlements of powerful Shahar - impressive agglomerations of ancestral towers - can be considered real cities by medieval standards. Especially large and spectacular are several - such as Erzi, Targim and Egikal, Alas, due to lack of time I could not properly examine them all (however, both Targim and Egikal managed to be seen from the road on the way to Thaba-Erdy). So the next morning, having had a good night's sleep in a large kunatskaya in the Nazir courtyard under the sound of rain on the roof, I decided to move to Erzi, which of the "first-class" ancient villages of the gorge is closest to modern Dzheyrakh.

Once Erzi (translated as "Eagle") belonged to the Metskhal Shahar - a strong society, which included several other large villages. Now the village is located below, by the very road - in the old place, in the towers, by my arrival there was only a shepherd's cat (Nazir even went to specifically ask the locals if the dogs were tied up above - they should be feared much more than people).

Most of the surviving buildings of Erzi are residential towers, squat and wide at the base, called in Ingush gala... But above all, the predatory and slender dominating over them are striking. vio- battle towers.

There are nine combat towers in Erzi - only the foundations remain from a part, and one was rebuilt quite recently.

The "wow" building, adapted exclusively for defense, required more skill from the architect, and was much more expensive; not every teip could afford its own battle tower. Accordingly, the builders of such towers were famous far beyond the boundaries of their shahars. The family of Nazir, who received me as a guest in Dzheyrakh, belongs to the L'yanov teip - Dets L'yanov, one of the few tower builders whose name remained in history, also came from him.

“The Vainakhs had a custom,” wrote Markovin, “the place taken for the tower was watered with milk. If milk did not seep into the ground, then such a site was considered good and then construction began. When erecting the towers, the masters did not use external scaffolding. As the building grew, planks were laid. The work was carried out with the help of a special gate - "chegyrk", they raised stone blocks and slate slabs. "

We managed to get inside one of the "wows" - I was impressed by an interesting vault of the cross:

At a distance - the invariable crypt necropolis. Let us remind you that Islam came to these mountains quite recently - pagan funeral traditions in these parts were eliminated only in the 19th century, if not later.

In the end, the rain drove me out of the ruins - again, Nazir promised to pick me up at the appointed time downstairs (the option "yes, there are a couple of kilometers, I can safely walk on foot" categorically did not pass). Later, after taking a short rest at his house and saying goodbye to all my large family, I was going to get out back to the Georgian Military Road - and further to Tbilisi.

Nazir and his family were going to a neighboring village for a funeral, and, making a small detour, they drove me to the Ossetian post. Soon, after not long standing on the road and having exchanged words with the fat Ossetian policeman on duty, I was already in Upper Lars, at the border.

The girl-border guard, seeing in my passport Kiev stamps for January and February, did not hesitate to call the special officers - soon a young man with an inconspicuous but shrewd face appeared and began to ask me if I knew that VGTRK journalists had recently died in Donbas (it was the end June) and what emotions I feel about this - simultaneously probing me with a glance. In order to end the interrogation with partiality, I had to wave my editorial certificate to the young man, after which the question was dropped. The Georgian customs, as always, passed without a hitch.

By that time, the road had barely been cleared of the mudflow: in May, a catastrophic landslide came down from Kazbek, and for a month and a half traffic between Russia and Georgia was completely blocked. I was lucky: after my trip, there was a second descent, again blocking the road for a long time.

Kazbegi, renamed Stepantsminda under Saakashvili, has changed a lot in the nine years since I first got there - a bunch of guesthouses and restaurants have appeared, crowds of backpackers and trekkers on the streets. I leave the city on foot, expecting to walk to the ancient basilica in Sioni, five kilometers from the city - on the mountain near this temple of the X century on our first visit to Georgia, we once spent the night under open aireating peaches and puri bread, which the altar boy treated us to.

A passing car that stopped right to Tbilisi with a nice Russian-speaking Czech guy, an OSCE employee, upset my plans - I decided not to give up such an opportunity and drive straight to the capital. But about Tbilisi - some other time.

Ingushetia-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Dagestan, summer 2014

The Erzi tower complex consists of eight battle towers and several dozen residential towers. The height of some structures reaches 30 meters. In the Dzheyrakh region of Ingushetia, there is a medieval tower complex Erzi. Erzi translated into Russian means "eagle". According to one of the local legends, once the inhabitants of the village of Kerbit came to this place and cut down a tree. On it they saw an eagle's nest with chicks. So the settlement that appeared on this place began to be called Erzi. The eagle appears to have become a sacred bird for the local population. So, during research in the 19th century, a bronze censer was found in the Erzi sanctuary, made in the form of an eagle figure 38 centimeters high. The object was dated to the 8th century AD. e. However, it is possible that the item ended up in the aul by accident, since it was apparently made far beyond the settlement. Nearby was the Alanskiye Vorota gorge - an important passage through the Main Caucasian ridge. Perhaps the item was in one of the trade caravans that followed through the gorge.

According to recent reports, it was a detail of a military standard. Erzi was once a large aul. Its wealth can be judged by the large stone towers that have survived to this day. There are many towers on the territory of Ingushetia, but it is in Erzi that there are most of them. The complex consists of eight battle towers, two semi-battle towers and the remains of about 50 small residential towers and walls. Of course, the majestic battle towers, whose height reaches 30 meters, make a special impression. Unlike other battle towers found in the Caucasus, the battle towers in Ingushetia are narrower. The structures have a square base of 5x5 meters.

At the top, they end in pyramidal-stepped roofs, although towers with a flat roof are also encountered. The roof of the pyramidal-stepped towers was made of slate slabs, a large cone-shaped stone was installed on top. The construction of the towers was approached with special care. First, they chose the place where the structure would be erected. As such, such towers did not have a foundation. At the place where the structure was supposed to be built, the soil was first torn off and poured over with milk. This was done until the milk ceased to be absorbed. When building the Ingush towers, the proximity of the future structure to a river or a spring was taken into account. One of the aul families was involved in the construction of the tower. The richer the family was, the higher and safer the tower was. The tower was built in such a way that at least one more tower was visible from its loopholes. First, several large stone blocks larger than human height were laid. Each such stone was valued as one bull. The block was hewn by four stonecutters for 12 days.

Getting the stone down the slope was also a challenge. For this, 12 bulls were harnessed. The towers in Erzi were built of river boulders, only in the corners the craftsmen laid massive hewn stones. The cost of one corner stone was equal to the cost of a sheep. The laying of the tower was accompanied by ritual actions. When the first rows of stones were laid, they were sprinkled with the blood of a sacrificed ram. Starting from the second floor, stones were laid from the inside. In the XII-XIII centuries, the highlanders did without mortar, carefully adjusting the stones. Later they used a lime mortar. Sometimes architects left petroglyphs on the stones. The tower was erected within a year. If the construction was delayed, it was a big shame for the family. The tower, which was not completed in time, was not completed. Aul Erzi is known for its wealthy families. A large number of famous families of Ingushetia came from this village. During his heyday, Erzi could field more than 60 riders in full armor. The fame of local builders spread far beyond the Dzheyrakh gorge. Craftsmen were invited to build towers on the territory of neighboring states. However, it was forbidden for local craftsmen to build combat towers outside their homeland. They were only allowed to build semi-combat and residential towers. The combat towers were significantly higher than residential ones. They had narrow passages and were better suited for defense. The stones for the battle towers were processed more carefully than for the residential ones. Since the towers were high enough, a stone vault was made at the level of the fifth floor to strengthen the structure. This also prevented the spread of fire in the event of arson.

All combat towers were tapered. It was only possible to climb to the upper floors with the help of ladders. They could be lifted at any time. We went between floors through hatches located in the corners of the tower. The entrance to the tower was on the second floor. This made the use of the ram useless. The entrance was closed from the inside with wooden doors and locked on a wooden beam. Prisoners were sometimes placed on the ground floor. There were also warehouses here. In the upper part of the tower, stones for throwing, bows, arrows and other weapons were prepared. The tower had narrow loopholes and observation slots, and above there were fighting balconies-mashikuli. During armed conflicts, women and children were at the bottom of the towers - warriors fought on the upper floors.

The locals were ready for a siege, so the towers were often equipped with wells and underground passages under the tower. The walls of the towers were not supposed to have any protrusions so that the enemy could not climb them. The battle towers in Ingushetia were built over several centuries. The last such towers were built here in the 18th century. Now these medieval monuments are not in the best condition. In 2012, a project for the reconstruction of the towers was launched in Ingushetia.

Photo: State nature reserve Erzi

Erzi Nature Reserve (Republic of Ingushetia, Russia) - exact location, interesting places, inhabitants, routes.

• Last Minute Tours to Russia

This reserve in Ingushetia was established in 2000, and in 2009, by a presidential decree, its territory was increased six times. Today the reserve covers an area of \u200b\u200bmore than 35 thousand hectares. It is on the slope Caucasus mountains, in the Dzheyrakh-Assin depression, in the Sunzha region of the republic. About a third of the reserve is covered with deciduous forest; and higher up there are picturesque alpine meadows. The local relief is very diverse, and glaciers begin in the highest zones (more than 3500 m above sea level).

The flora of the reserve is very diverse due to the impressive height difference and large area. Here you can find under 190 rare species. Of the animals that are found in the territory, there are quite a few ungulates; there are both predators and birds of prey.

The most interesting places of the reserve from a natural point of view are the Armkhin waterfall and the pine grove of the same name. The waterfall is also called Lezhginsky by the name of the river that formed it. The grove is a unique place: here you can see the Crimean pine, which is completely atypical for mountainous Ingushetia. Other places worth visiting are the crooked pine grove in the upper reaches of the Myagikha River and the healing spring on the Bisht Pass.

One of the largest tower complexes in the republic, which is located on the territory of the reserve, deserves the most attention.

Especially interesting cultural heritage, with which you can get acquainted in the reserve. Here you can see a great many historical monuments, including places of worship for ancient deities, burial mounds, tombs, stone towers. In the upper reaches of the Myagikha River there is, for example, the Myagi-Erdy sanctuary. Even more interesting is the Mai-Lamsky complex of sanctuaries with a well-preserved temple called Myatzel.

But the most attention, perhaps, deserves one of the largest tower complexes in the republic, which is located on the territory of the reserve. It can be found in the Dzheyrakh gorge, and it is truly worth it: as part of the Erzi complex, there are under 50 residential towers and 10 more combat towers. The whole complex is surrounded by a system of stone walls. Most tall towers here they reach almost 30 m, these are imposing and severe rectangular structures, very picturesque. Mostly, the Erzi towers have five tiers.

Eagle of Suleiman

The most valuable find was made in one of the towers of Erzi in the 19th century. This is a bronze eagle, created at the end of the 8th century. and called the Eagle of Suleiman. Currently, the figurine created by the craftsmen of the Arab Caliphate (most likely - Basra) is considered a symbol of the republic.

True, in 1931 the eagle was taken to the St. Petersburg Hermitage, where you can still see it today. In 2013 the Hermitage donated State Museum Ingushetia its copy.

The eagle is a figure about 40 cm tall, trimmed with silver and copper elements and empty inside - like a bottle. It is believed that at the moment in the whole world there are only four figurines of this shape. Moreover, the exact date of manufacture is stamped only on the Eagle of Suleiman.

Practical information

Address: administration of the reserve - Republic of Ingushetia, Nazran, st. Embankment, 6.

The Erzi tower complex can be reached directly by the highway, which is very convenient. From Vladikavkaz you need to move strictly to the south, in the direction of Mtskheta, along the E-117 highway. After the village of Chmi, the highway departs to the left, along which you get from North Ossetia to Ingushetia, to Dzheyrakh. From Dzheirakh to the towers, you need to drive about 9 km in the same direction. In general, the road from Vladikavkaz will take no more than 40 minutes.

The Ingush tower buildings are a unique phenomenon in world culture. Let me use the statement of one of the well-known Caucasian scholars E.I. Krupnov, who remarkably expressed himself about the Ingush towers: " Ingush battle towers are in the true sense the pinnacle of architectural and construction skills the ancient population of the region. They amaze with their simplicity of form, monumentality and strict grace. Ingush towers for their time are a true miracle of human genius".

On the first day of my stay in Ingushetia, I was struck by the impressive view of one of the largest castle-type tower settlements, located at the end of a mountain range in the Dzheyrakh gorge on the territory of the Erzi nature reserve of the same name. Previously, I posted photographs of the tower complex, taken from a quadcopter. Today I am starting to lay out a more detailed series of posts with photographs taken from the ground and a picture seen directly with my eyes.

Against the background of the majestic mountain Mat-lam and in contrast to it a small stream, the buildings of the aul rise. The approach of the construction of these complexes to the surrounding landscape is very interesting. They have merged with the landscape, complementing it. Very interesting is the combination of the ocher-gray mass of the towers with purple slate faults, the distant rocks of the Mat-lam plateau, and the ash-gray haze of mountain ranges. We drive into the village of Olgetti, which has a population of just over 300.

A little geography about the reserve: it is located on the northern macroslope of the Greater Caucasus, in the Dzheyrakh-Assinsk depression and the Rocky Range mountains adjacent to it from the north. The largest rivers in the territory of the reserve are Assa and Armkhi. About a third of the territory is occupied by forests: on the northern slopes of the mountains there are areas of oak and beech forests, sometimes with an admixture of Norway maple. Sea buckthorn, willow and gray alder grow in the floodplains of the rivers. Above 1500 meters on the slopes, hooked pine with an admixture of oak, birch, hornbeam, linden, mountain ash. Further, birch crooked forest with undergrowth of Caucasian rhododendron, and above 2000 meters mountain steppes and meadows, over which there are alpine meadows. Above 3500 meters there is a belt of glaciers and snowfields.

Aul Erzi means "Eagle" in translation. Legends say that somehow the inhabitants of the village of Kerbit came to the forest. They cut down a tree. And among the branches was an eagle's nest with chicks. Such a find was perceived as a good omen, and on the site of the forest they founded the aul Erzi.

There is no exact time for the construction of tower complexes in mountainous Ingushetia. In the village of Erzi, there are nine battle towers and twenty-two residential towers. There are battle towers along the perimeter of the village. One of them stands at the entrance to the aul. Residential towers are located between them. In all this we see the typical features of the Vainakh architectural style.

In the mountains there are often earthquakes, but the tower buildings, despite the seeming primitiveness of the masonry, are still standing. This primarily depends on the fact that the towers are built, as a rule, on rocky platforms and shale, the petals of which serve as a damping impact force. In the construction of the towers, mainly ordinary river boulders and pebbles were used. But at the same time, massive hewn blocks were laid in the corners. A clay-lime mortar was skillfully smoothed around the stones. The walls are held together by separate flat slabs. Tower buildings have no foundations. They are placed directly on a rocky or shale base - the mainland.

Large gaps between the boulders are covered with small river pebbles. Larger stones lie at the base of the towers. The walls are held together by separate flat slabs. They protrude as corners inside the towers. Tower buildings have no foundations. They are placed directly on a rocky or shale base - the mainland.

The Vainakhs had a custom - the selected place for the construction of the tower was watered with milk. If milk remained on the surface, then such a site was considered suitable for construction.

The height of the "gala" residential towers did not reach a height of more than 10 m (two or three floors). For storey floors, special wall protrusions and recessed niches were used. Beams were inserted into them. In the center of a large tower, a column was often installed - a support tetrahedral pillar with a massive base and stone cushions located at different heights.

At the top of the pillar there was a capital in the form of a truncated four-sided pyramid, placed on the cut off top. The floor slabs, consisting of beams with slate and brushwood decking, rested on the pillar cushions, ledges and wall niches. The roof of the residential towers was flat, it was smeared with clay and compacted with a stone cylindrical roller. The walls of the tower rose above the roof in the form of a parapet. The lower floor usually housed livestock and stored household supplies. People lived in the upper rooms.

External scaffolding was not used in the construction of the towers. Everything was built from the inside. It looked like this: as the building grew, boards were laid, after which the craftsmen resorted to using a special gate - "four". They raised stone blocks and slate slabs.

Door and window openings are completed with semicircular arches of a fairly regular shape. They were carved either in whole monolithic stones, or in two massive stones pushed to each other. In Ingushetia, arches made of several blocks with a primitive keystone in the center are quite common. Sometimes arches of different types adorn the same building. The diversity of the design of the openings enlivens the building. Some buildings have eaves in the form of canopies over the doors and windows. On the inside, the openings widen, often ending in pointed arches. In the cold season and at night, doors and windows were covered with board shields. The room was heated by a fireplace, near which the inhabitants of the mountains spent their evenings.

16. The walls were full of niches in which pottery and metal dishes were kept. Felt carpets adorned the floor and walls.

17. Sometimes residential towers were equipped with loopholes and balconies-mashikul.

Outside, near the residential towers, stone feeders are arranged (large niches with a stone block at the base), a stone with a hole or notches is driven into the walls, the so-called tethering post.

18. Hitching post.

Now let's turn our attention to the battle towers. The first thought that flashed through my head: "They are delicious." Unlike residential ones, their height reaches 18-20 m. They are also called "wow" towers. The number of floors is from four to five. Inside, for floors, beams were also used, resting against special niches and ledges-cornices. However, there are also differences in construction compared to residential towers. So the second and third floors were very often covered with a vault with ledges in the form of a cross. The combat tower had one entrance, less often two, and they led immediately to the second and third floors. This was done for defense purposes. In case of danger, a ladder - a beam with notches - could be lifted up at any time.

20. The area of \u200b\u200bthe combat towers at the base of them is 5 * 5 m and 4 * 5 m, upwards they are strongly narrowed.

The passages inside the towers were located at the corners and were zigzag. They are covered with a flat roof with ledges-parapets in the corners, but more often with a step-pyramidal overlap with a spire in the center. The battle towers are always equipped with a mass of loopholes - narrow slots (topan Iuyrgish), and at the very top - with battle balconies-mashikuli (top) (photo 27). The loopholes are well suited for shooting bows and flintlocks. Also, it should be said that the Vainakhs and Dagestanis fired from a bow not only with arrows, but also with small stones.

24. Many Ingush surnames come from Erzi, among them: Yandievs, Mamilovs, Aldaganovs, Evkurovs, Buruzhevs, Batayevs and others.

25. Crypts near the village of Erzi.

At the ascent to the village of Erzi there are crypts; there are also crypts behind the village, near the stream. One of the crypts, located at the entrance to the aul, is ornamented, the in-depth pattern resembles a cross. Next to the crypts was the Erzeli sanctuary, from which only traces of a longitudinal vault inside the building and fragments of slate, which back in the 30s, covered the seven-step roof, remained.

27. Fighting balconies-mashikuli (chierhi).

Battle towers were built for all occasions. Sometimes wells were made in such towers for raising water, and small underground passages were also arranged. The magazine "Russian Invalid" for 1822 says about the purpose of the battle towers: "The lower tier serves as a refuge for wives and children during the war. Meanwhile, from the upper floor, their brave spouses protect their property."

31. On the lowest floor of the wow tower, food supplies were kept, and prisoners languished behind a stone partition.

32. The walls of the towers from the inside are well connected by corner stones.

The construction of the battle tower and the residential tower was arranged very solemnly. The first rows of stones were stained with the blood of a ram. The tower was erected for no more than a year, and the customer had to feed the master well. The Vainakhs were very afraid of hunger. And if the master during the construction fell from a height from dizziness, the customer was accused of greed and expelled from the aul.

The skill of the builders was inherited. The surname of the Ingush Berkinhoevs (Berkinoevs) from the village of Berkin, who erected towers even outside their country - in Ossetia, is still known.

37. The cost of laying the corner stone was equal to the cost of a sheep.

41. View of Olgetti and the new mosque.

42. One of the streets settlementnamed after the President Russian Federation Vladimir Putin.

44. Local children play football. In the distance, Erzi's battle towers guard them.

In the local sanctuary, a bronze one-piece censer in the shape of an eagle was kept for a long time. VN Kasaev, a researcher at the State Hermitage, identified it as the incense burner. It dates from the beginning of the 8th century. Created in the center of the Abbasid Caliphate in Iraq - the city of Basra. Today this figure is "one of the oldest monuments in the world, bearing the date of the Muslim era." The eagle's head is very good - the beak is slightly open, the eyes are emphasized by the superciliary arches, the ear holes are highlighted with a roller. The inscription on the eagle's neck reads "In the name of God, the Most Merciful, the Most Merciful. God bless him. This is what Suleiman ordered to make. Glory to the true God. Year one hundred and five." 105 Hijri corresponds to 715-716. Perhaps this thing got to the Erzi aul thanks to Darial, along which merchant caravans moved from ancient times, and it was here that the Ingush collected duties from passing merchants. In 1931, the figrua of the eagle was bought for the Ingush Museum in Ordzhonikidze. After the unification of Ingushetia and Chechnya, the figure was transported to Grozny. And in 1939 it was taken to the East Department of the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg from the Chechen-Ingush Museum in Grozny, where it is kept to this day.

45. Bronze censer from the sanctuary of the village of Erzi. The height of the figure is 38 cm.

46. \u200b\u200bMap of the Caucasus of the second half of the 18th century. 1780 year.

47. Map of European Russia and the Caucasus region. 1862

48. Map of the Caucasian region in 1903 from the annex to the calendar.

49. Road map of the Caucasian region in 1903.

50. Map of the General Staff of the Red Army in the south of Russia. 1941 year.

51. Topographic map of European Russia. year 2000.

52. Modern map. 2017 year.

Bibliography:

1. Shadyzheva M.M. Ingushetia - part of the Caucasus: collection of documents. -M Tetragraph, 2013, -320c. ISBN 5906002413, 9785906002419
2. Tankiev A.Kh. Spiritual towers of the Ingush people: a collection of articles and materials about folk culture. - Saratov: Region. Privolzh. publishing house "Children's Book", 1997. - 296p. ISBN 5-8270-0190-2
3. Markovin V.I. In the country of the Vainakhs. -Moscow: publishing house "Art", 1969. - 120s.
4. Bulletin of the Archaeological Center. Edition II. -Nazran, 2014.
5. Bulletin of the Archaeological Center. Issue IV. -Nazran: OOO "KEP", 2012. - 198p. ISBN 978-5-906177-38-4