Interesting route: Military-Sukhum road
Military-Sukhum road is a new nameKlukhor Pass. This name he received in the XIX century. It starts from the Black Sea highway near Sukhumi. It passes along the banks of Machara and Kodor. On its way the Military-Sukhumi road crosses several villages: Merheul, Tsabal, Latu, Azhara, Amtkel, Gentsvish, Chkhaltu.
Till now it is interesting
It linked the peoples living inslopes of the Caucasian ridge. Thanks to her, cultural and economic ties developed. The Military-Sukhum road from Abkhazia was also used by the enemy to attack the country. Moving along it is very entertaining. Sights of the Military-Sukhumi road are numerous and varied.
Original construction
On the southeastern outskirts of Merheula liesan interesting temple. Unlike the others located in Abkhazia, it does not have an altar semicircle. It consists of one hall and two chapels. The hall has a narrowing on the east side. It is illuminated by the sunlight penetrating through two narrow windows, one of which is located in the altar, and the second - in the western wall of the building. The church is lined with limestone. Built in the XIII-XIV centuries.
So used to live
At the 10th kilometer of the Military-Sukhumi roadthere are ruins of a feudal estate. From it remained the walls, made of stone, with window and door apertures. However, in the building there was also a second, not preserved till our time wooden floor. To the west of the castle, on the top of the hill, are the remains of the fortress. If you go up to them, you can see the tower and the fortress. Sometimes there are fragments of ceramic and glassware.
Required protection
The military-Sukhumi road often presentssurprises in the form of destroyed fortresses. On the 11th of its kilometer there is a part of the Kelasur Wall with towers. If you move 2 kilometers to the east, you can see the ruins of the largest defensive structure of Abkhazia - the Gerzeul Fortress. The walls and the gate tower, the fortress yard, in which the remains of the temple and cellar are located, are preserved. The fortress was built in the VIII century.
The ruins of the Patzkhir fortress can be seen onthe fifteenth kilometer of the Military-Sukhumi road in the Machara Gorge. You can go to it along a path overgrown with boxwood. On the way there will be the ruins of a mill. The walls of the fortress are very thick. They were laid out of untreated limestone. They say that in this fortress lived an ancient tribe of Coraxes. The fortress itself is more than 2 thousand years old. Having reached this place, it is worthwhile to climb higher and east to visit the top of the cap. The road to it goes along the place where the dwellings of the Apsils once stood. This people lived in the Kodori Gorge in the I-VIII century.
To the present day
On the way you can see the ruins of severaltowers built here in time immemorial. Nearby are the gentle hills. Their slopes once served as a burial place for several thousand people. Archaeologists found 5000 graves and explored several hundred of them. Excavations started in this place since 1960. It is noteworthy that not only the bodies of the deceased were dropped into the graves, but also objects of everyday life, weapons, ornaments. Archaeologists discovered axes, swords, as well as shields, spears, earrings, necklaces, rings, plates, jugs.
Origins of the Revolution
Military-Sukhumi road, photo of whichpresented in this article, allows you to see a lot of historical monuments to those who travel on it. One of them - located at the 17th kilometer Voronovskaya manor. Voronov was a prominent scientist, publisher of the newspaper Kavkaz, a co-thinker of Herzen, Chernyshevsky, Ogaryov. From 1903 to 1918, through his house, a connection was made between the Transcaucasian and Petrograd revolutionaries. At present, only one house built at the end of the 19th century remained from the estate. Inside there are a library and furniture of that time. In the old days, the manor was a few buildings, and among them, besides the master's house, there was a dining room, a kitchen, and a pantry. The manor was surrounded by a magnificent garden with fruit trees, as well as alleys of poplars and plane trees.
Fortress on two cliffs
After leaving the village of Olginskoye, which is locatedVoronovskaya manor, we must move forward. The military-Sukhum road will lead to the ruins of the next fortress - Tsibilium. This fortress is located on the edge of the Kodori Gorge. Well preserved walls, well-seen from the spacious clearing, which leads the road. Also preserved and towers. One of them has a height of 16 meters and is composed of large limestone blocks. Inside there is a stone staircase leading to the watch tower. Even in the tower there is a small room, there used to be a warehouse. From the second square tower there were only two parallel walls. The fortress stands on two calcareous cliffs. On one of them the ruins of the church functioning in the 14th-17th centuries were preserved. The local population still reveres what is left of the temple. To the altar bring gifts - candles, ribbons, eggs, cocks, matter.
There are many more interesting things to see when travelingon the Military-Sukhum road. This is a cave in which ancient people lived 10 thousand years ago, dolmens at Lake Amtkel, an iron bridge, thrown through Jampal, the ruins of medieval buildings, other monuments of antiquity. On the way, natural beauty, rivers, mountains, waterfalls, boxwood.
But the Military-Sukhum road, restorationwhich in the plans of our country, has several problems. Partly it is filled up with boulders, washed away by downpours. However, the money spent on work on clearing and asphalt should be recouped. After all, this route to the coast of the Black Sea is 300 km shorter than the existing ones.
