Tickets
Hotels
Tours
Insurance
Trains
RussiaWhat to Expect and Is It Worth Visiting
The abandoned village of Goor is one of the brightest historical sights of Dagestan, known for its towers and ruins of an ancient settlement. The village is located on the top of a mountain at an altitude of 1700 meters, offering a stunning view of the surrounding hills and valleys. The view from here is breathtaking, and another natural attraction in this place will cause special unique sensations – the observation deck Troll Language, which is considered one of the most picturesque and photogenic places in the whole republic. Even from here you can see an amazing man–made landmark - Dagestan terraces, built in Soviet times on the slopes of a nearby mountain. You can visit the Goor on your own or with excursions from Makhachkala, Derbent or Izberbash. And you can combine a trip here with a visit to other similar ruins in the neighboring village of Kahib. We will tell you in detail how to get to and visit the Goor at the end of the article.
Little is known about the history of the old abandoned village of Goor. Today, the descendants of the inhabitants of the ancient village live at the foot of the hill in a flat area, and the ruins, which are interesting to tourists, have been preserved on the hill. Most of the ancient settlement is almost destroyed, only stone walls and foundations remain. Local residents use some buildings as a place to keep small livestock. Initially, seven high towers were built here, the purpose of which was to guard and guard against attacks. The period of their construction dates back to the XVI-XVIII centuries, as evidenced by the tablets on them. Of the seven towers, only three have survived to this day, and the rest were dismantled and used in the construction of a new village. In addition to the towers, there is an old active Ziyarat mosque, where you can go if you follow the rules of visiting.
🕐 Working hours
Around the clock. It is better to visit early in the morning or in the evening before sunset to avoid overcrowding of the place with large groups of tourists, as the place is very popular and large groups of tourists are brought here. And if you are not too lazy and get up early, you can meet the dawn.
💵 Entrance fee / ticket price
Free of charge.
🚶 How to get there
Goor is located 170 kilometers from Makhachkala and 218 kilometers from Derbent (Goor on the map). It is quite possible to go here for one day with an excursion or on your own transport from Makhachkala, Derbent and other places on the coast. Ready-made excursions to Goor can be purchased on these sites:
If you visit the Goor on your own transport, you can plan a route with a check-in on the way to the village of Khunzakh, where to see the majestic Tobot waterfalls and Itlyatlyar, Tsolotlinsky canyon and Hunzakh fortress. Even on the way to Goor, you can and should stop at Datong Temple.
However, in one day during a trip from the coast, it will most likely not be possible to fully see all these interesting places along the way. Therefore, if time and opportunity allow, we advise you to come to this part of Dagestan and settle for a couple of days in the villages of Goor or Kahib, or in more touristic and developed Hunzakh or Gunib. Then you will be able to see the numerous sights and beauties of the Shamil and Gunibsky districts without haste. And now let's tell you more about the independent route to Goor:
Almost the entire road to Goor is asphalt and not bad in quality, but near the village of Hebda there will be a turn from asphalt to the bridge, after which a difficult dirt road begins. It goes up all the time and in serpentines, you will have to drive almost 10 kilometers along it. In good weather, it is easy to drive on a dry surface in any car, but in bad weather we would advise you to refrain from traveling by car with low ground clearance. Also here you need the experience of traveling on dirt mountain roads, without it it will be dangerous and scary to go. Although it is worth noting that at the time of our visit in 2022, this road was partially repaired, and perhaps in the future there will be a hard surface.
When you get to the new residential village of Goor, the normal primer will end in it. As such, there is no organized parking here, but there are plenty of places where you can park your car, everything is free (Goor parking on the map). Further to the top of the mountain, where there are ruins, towers and magnificent views, it will remain to overcome one and a half kilometers, which can be done on foot or by a high-traffic car.
If you walk, it will take 20-40 minutes, going up all the time. There is nothing difficult in hiking, except that in the summer it will be very hot along the way, so protect your head from the sun and take water. The ruins are visible at the top, so you definitely can't go wrong with the route, just follow the bumpy dirt road in their direction.
If you don't want to walk, you can take a ride in one direction on local SUVs, whose drivers are "on duty" here. For a one-way trip, they ask for 500 rubles for the entire car with a capacity of up to 6 people or 100 rubles per person.
And finally, if you have a high-cross-country car, you can try to drive up yourself. The road there is terrible without exaggeration, so do not think that you can easily climb on a regular crossover, you need at least a UAZ, Niva or another car with all-wheel drive and high ground clearance. There is also no parking at the top, so you will have to stop on a narrow road and then maneuver to turn around. This is especially difficult when there are several cars. Before reaching 500 meters to the ruins, there is an iron gate that can be closed, and they ask for 100 rubles for the fare. There is nowhere to park the car in front of the gate, so you'll either have to pay or go back.
💥 We remind you that it is much more interesting to get acquainted with the sights of Dagestan with the help of excursions, and therefore we advise you to look at online booking options on these proven search and price comparison sites: