Arkhyz

Arkhyz (English)
Архыз (Russian)
-  Rural locality  -

The village of Arkhyz

Location of the Karachay-Cherkess Republic in Russia
Arkhyz
Location of Arkhyz in the Karachay-Cherkess Republic
Coordinates: 43°33′54″N 41°16′44″E / 43.565°N 41.278889°E / 43.565; 41.278889Coordinates: 43°33′54″N 41°16′44″E / 43.565°N 41.278889°E / 43.565; 41.278889
Administrative status
Country Russia
Federal subject Karachay–Cherkessia
Municipal status
Municipal district Zelenchuksky District
Rural settlement Arkhyz Rural District
Statistics
Population (2010 Census) 505 inhabitants[1]
Time zone MSK (UTC+03:00)[2]
Founded 1923
Postal code(s)[3] 369152
Arkhyz on Wikimedia Commons

Arkhyz (Russian/Karachay-Balkar: Архыз; "mudflows") is a village in the valley of the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River, in the Republic of Karachay–Cherkessia, Greater Caucasus, Russia, about 70 km inland from the Black Sea shore. The modern village was founded in 1923 near the confluence of the Arkhyz and Pshish rivers. It is located in a mountainous region in the vicinity of the eponymous aul sitting at an altitude of 1,450 meters. The elevation of the surrounding mountains is more than 3,000 meters above the sea. The population is 505 (2010 Census).[1]

Zelenchuksky Churches

The Zelenchuksky Churches are an archaeological preserve extending for 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) around the ruins of Nizhnearkhyzskoe gorodishche, tentatively identified as the medieval capital of Alania, a Christian state destroyed by the hordes of Möngke Khan in the 13th century. No Byzantine document mentions the name of this city, whereas al-Mas'udi refers to it as Ma'as, or Maghas.

The most remarkable feature of the site is a cluster of three early medieval churches, whose construction is associated with the missionary activities of Patriarch Nicholas Mystikos in the Northern Caucasus. These structures bear much resemblance to the Shoana Church and Senty Church, situated in the neighbouring valleys. In the 19th century the churches were affiliated with the monastery of St. Alexander Nevsky. A monastic community was revived there after the fall of the Soviet Union.

The North Church is supposed to have been the cathedral of the diocese of Alania between the 10th and 13th centuries. The dome rises to a height of 21 meters; the western wall is twice as long. The narthex formerly contained a baptistery. A 19th-century traveller described the faded Byzantine frescoes that were still visible on its walls.

The Central Church appears to have been conceived somewhat earlier than the two others, in the form of a regular cross, but was extended to the west during or shortly following the construction. It is much larger than the South Church, which was built of coarse rubble masonry, extensively restored by the monks in 1899, fell into disuse during the Soviet years, and was reconsecrated to St. Elijah in 1991. The South Church bears the distinction of being the oldest functioning church in all of Russia.[4]

Within 30 km from Nizhny Arkhyz a short grave inscription was discovered in 1888. Although it is written in Greek characters, the inscription (alternatively dated to 941 or 963) was interpreted by Vasily Abayev as the earliest preserved text in the Ossetic language. Another tourist attraction in the valley is a mandylion-type rock painting of Christ, datable to the 10th century but discovered only recently.

Observatory

Arkhyz is also the site of a Soviet astrophysical observatory which formerly boasted the world's largest solid-mirror reflecting telescope (6 meters in diameter).[5]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Russian Federal State Statistics Service (2011). "Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года. Том 1" [2010 All-Russian Population Census, vol. 1]. Всероссийская перепись населения 2010 года (2010 All-Russia Population Census) (in Russian). Federal State Statistics Service. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  2. ↑ Правительство Российской Федерации. Федеральный закон №107-ФЗ от 3 июня 2011 г. «Об исчислении времени», в ред. Федерального закона №248-ФЗ от 21 июля 2014 г. «О внесении изменений в Федеральный закон "Об исчислении времени"». Вступил в силу по истечении шестидесяти дней после дня официального опубликования (6 августа 2011 г.). Опубликован: "Российская газета", №120, 6 июня 2011 г. (Government of the Russian Federation. Federal Law #107-FZ of June 31, 2011 On Calculating Time, as amended by the Federal Law #248-FZ of July 21, 2014 On Amending Federal Law "On Calculating Time". Effective as of after sixty days following the day of the official publication.).
  3. ↑ Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (Russian)
  4. ↑ Information about the church, from the Arkhyz Observatory website.
  5. ↑ The Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Inc., 1988. ISBN 0-7172-0112-0. Page 180.

References

External links

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