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RussiaThe abandoned village is a ghost of the Gra and what is it interesting for?
Old abandoned villages are one of the most interesting and intriguing types of attractions in Dagestan. And the ghost village of Gra is one of them. Its beauty is that it is located far from the main tourist routes and is little known among mass tourists. There are no bus tours here, and even rarely anyone gets to it during a road trip on their own transport. At the same time, it is in no way inferior in entertainment to other such promoted places, and the absence of crowds of tourists here only gives it a special charm.
Of all the abandoned villages we visited in Dagestan, it was Gra that I remembered and liked the most, and therefore we can safely recommend it for a visit. Moreover, it is not difficult to get to it at all, and you will not have to go on a multi-day hike, wade through mountains and streams. It can be reached even by car and is easy to walk to, but we will tell you about it in detail below.
Friends, be responsible travelers! We urge you not to leave garbage behind during your travels, not to damage monuments, not to harm nature, not to disassemble landmarks for souvenirs. Leave Dagestan as it is now – beautiful, clean and interesting.
A little history of the village Gra
The history of the village of Gra has been poorly studied, but it is believed that it appeared in turbulent times around the XVIII century, when villages were built on the tops of mountains. This was done to protect against the enemy, because from a height the approach of enemies is better seen, and it is easier to protect your home. The original inhabitants of these places – Lezgins - lived here.
In 1839, the village was incorporated into the Russian Empire. It is known that in 1848, when the battle for Akhty was taking place, the troops of Imam Shamil were stationed in the village and blocked the road to the Russian detachments of General Argutinsky from Kurakh, moving to the rescue of the garrison of the besieged Akhty fortress.
In Soviet times, a collective farm named after M. Gorky was established in the village, cows, sheep and goats were raised here. In 1964, after the earthquakes, most of the residents were resettled in villages on the plains closer to the sea, as well as in the village of Akhty, but someone decided to stay. In the 1970s, the village was finally deleted from the lists of the village Council, and it officially ceased to exist. A few years ago, the only resident lived here, but today there is no one, and the village has finally turned into a ghost village.
🕐 Working hours
Around the clock, it is better to visit during the day in clear, dry weather. Try to get to the village in the first half of the day, as in the second there is often cloud cover and precipitation.
💵 Entrance fee and cost of visit
Free of charge.
🚶 How to get there in Ghost Village Gra?
The ghost village of Gra is located in the south of Dagestan in the gorge of the Samur River, 7 kilometers from the district center of the village of Akhty (Abandoned ghost village on the map). The nearest major city to the village of Gra is Derbent, 128 kilometers away. Group excursions are not carried here, so you can only get there by private transport, taxi or with an individual excursion. You can also take the bus, we will tell you more about everything:
It will not be possible to visit the village from Derbent by bus for one day, you will have to spend the night in Akhty. From the southern bus station of Derbent (southern bus station on the map) early in the morning to Ahty minibuses depart, and after lunch back. They are unstable and filling in, the schedule is changing, so everything will have to be clarified on the spot. For reference, they depart towards Akhta at 05:00-06:00, back from Akhta until 13:00.
When you arrive in the center of Akhta, you still have to travel almost 8 kilometers directly to the Gra. Unfortunately, there is no normal road there. Taxi drivers and hitchhikers do not go there. There are no jeeps that meet tourists for dropping off, as near other popular ghost villages, here either. Therefore, you will have to walk.
It will take about 2 hours to get to the ode side at a fast pace, one hour to inspect the village and rest, and two hours back, a total of at least 5 hours for such a hike. That is why it will not be possible to return to Derbent on the same day, because buses do not run after lunch. You can spend the night in Akhty in a guest house next to the bus station in the center.
If you are traveling around Dagestan on your own transport, then this is great. You can come to the Samur valley to see, in addition to the village of Gra, the Akhtyn fortress, visit the Akhtyn springs, the Zrykhsky waterfall and the Shalbuzdag mountain. All this can be done in one day (with the exception of Mount Shalbuzdag), but you need to leave early in the morning. Also, on the way from Derbent, you can stop at The Samur forest, but you can't visit everything with it in one day, you'll have to choose something. Therefore, as an option, you can come to the Samur Valley with an overnight stay and see everything. In the village of Akhty and next to it on the highway there are several hotels and guest houses, you can also stay at the hotel at the Akhtyn springs or at the hotel "Jeni" next to them. And there are also many convenient and safe places to spend the night with a tent.
The road to Akhta is good, fully paved. On the way, you will pass through the border area with Azerbaijan, and border guards may stop you on the road to check your documents, but no passes are required. When driving along the road directly next to the border after the village of Mugergan, it is better to turn off the mobile Internet on your phone, as sometimes it starts catching foreign towers, and you may find yourself "abroad" with all the costs of mobile Internet roaming.
From Akhta to Gra you will have to go already on a dirt road, and not a simple and dangerous one. You can set a route directly to the village in Yandex. Navigator. Navigators know this road. Not every driver will be able to drive along it and not every car, so if you are not sure, we advise you to park the car in a convenient place, and then go on foot. From the place where the more or less rolled primer ends, and a very bad one begins - 5 kilometers. We quickly overcame it on foot in a little over an hour.
The most interesting thing is that after overcoming the first few hundred meters of the most difficult section at the beginning of the route, the road became better, and it was quite possible to drive any car along it. But you need to understand that mountain dirt roads are treacherous and changeable. Which road to Gra will turn out to be during your trip is unknown, so without knowing the conditions ahead along the way, it is better not to take risks, especially in bad weather.
Getting lost on the way to the village will not work, there is only one road. Just stick to the rolled primer, and you will get to it.
Since the village is located on a mountain, you still have to climb a steep slope, but it's not difficult, it takes about 10 minutes in time. On Yandex Map Editor in the organic maps app, maps.me , OSM and others have drawn a path up the mountain bypassing from the northwest, but in fact you can climb a faintly discernible path that zigzags up the slope from the east side. For a reference point, look for a lone tree on the western slope, this path passes near it, (this is the tree on the map). And in any case, do not climb from the south or west, it is too steep and dangerous there.
Upstairs, when walking through the streets of the village, also be extremely careful: here you can fall through the ground or fall off a cliff. And before going back, don't forget to just sit on the outskirts of the village, enjoy the magnificent views, soak up the mysterious and calm atmosphere of this place, and drink tea, which you should bring with you in a thermos.
💥 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: