Kyrkhlyar Cemetery in Derbent

What to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting

On the outskirts of Derbent Old Town, if you walk from Kyrhlyar mosque 500 meters to the north, you can reach the oldest Muslim burial site in the Caucasus – Kyrhlyar cemetery. The oldest graves are located in the center of the cemetery and are fenced with a brick fence. They are stone whitewashed tombstones, there are exactly 40 of them in number. All this is an important place for Muslims and a place of pilgrimage for deeply religious people.

"Kykhlyar" is translated from Turkic as "forty". It is named after the number of buried Muslim soldiers who died in the 7th century during the holy war with the Arabs who encroached on the city. It is believed that they were martyred and became shahids (saints). In the center there is a kind of house – a place for offerings. In addition to the graves of the soldiers, there are many other ancient burials of different periods, up to the present, and the Tuta-bike mausoleum.

Women should be appropriately dressed before visiting, capes are offered before entering.

💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Makhachkala with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites:

• 📷 Search for excursions in Derbent on Sputnik8.com
• 📷 Search for excursions in Derbent on Tripster.ru