Georgian military road | |
 | |
| Information | |
| Departure | Vladikavkaz |
|---|---|
| Steps | Kazbegi Gudauri Pasanauri Ananauri Dusheti Mtskheta |
| Arrival | Tbilisi |
| Country |  Russia  Georgia (country) |
| Location | |
 42 ° 34 ′ 44 ″ N 44 ° 31 ′ 29 ″ E | |
The Georgian military road (Georgian: საქართველოს სამხედრო გზა [sakartvelos samkhedro gza], Russian: Военно-Грузинская дорога [Voyenno-Gruzinskaya doroga], Ossetian: Арвыкомы фæндаг [Arvykomy fændag]) is a mountain road that crosses the mountains of the Greater Caucasus and connects Tbilisi in Georgia with the Russian city of Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia. It passes through narrow gorges squeezed between colossal mountains, which gives some impressive views.
This epic journey across the traditional border ofEurope andAsia reaches nearly 2400 m at the level of the Jvari pass and is dominated by the massif of Mount Kazbek, whose peak at 5,033 m straddles the continental divide.
At the risk of getting a little roughed up, this is the best way to navigate the political minefield that is the Caucasus region and travel between the Russian North Caucasus and the South Caucasus countries.
Understand
The road owes its name to the Russian troops, who occupied Georgia after its annexation, and took this road in the 19th century. It is one of the three routes that cross the Caucasus, the other two being the Ossetian military route and the Transcaucasian route, located further west.
The road was built by the Russian military and completed at the beginning of the 19th century. After the annexation of Georgia by the Russian Empire in 1801, the Russians undertook to improve the roadway, which was completed in 1863. The Georgian military road played an important role in the economic development of Transcaucasia and during the Caucasian War.
The road connects Tbilisi (Georgia) to Vladikavkaz (Russia) following the route traditionally followed by invaders and merchants over the centuries. Starting from the north, it travels 208 km in the Terek valley, cross the Skalisty massif (хребет Скалистый) by the Darial pass, then follow the canyon of the Baïdarka river to the pass. It then descends into the valley of the Tetri Aragvi river and reaches Tbilisi by the right bank of the Koura river (Mtkvari). The road reaches an altitude of 2395 m at the Jvari Pass or Cross Pass, where Russian General Alexis Yermolov had a red stone cross built in 1824, to replace the original cross, built in the 12th century by the King of Georgia David IV says David the Reconstructor.
Steps
North — Vladikavkaz - Verkhny Lars - Border between the Russia and the Georgia — Kazbegi — Gudauri — Pasanauri — Ananauri — Dusheti — Mtskheta — Tbilisi — South
