The "country" of mountains, canyons, waterfalls, chudu scones, flavorous coffee, the UNESCO heritage, multi-colored carpets, and the lezginka dance.
An acquaintance with the republic usually begins with its capital – Makhachkala – the largest city in the North Caucasus. Initially, the city founded by Peter the Great was known as Port Petrovsk and was the southernmost port in Russia in those days. Later, the city was renamed in honor of Makhach Dakhadaev, a national hero of Dagestan.
To see all the beauty of the city, be sure to ascend the observation deck of the Tarki-Tau mountain, get down to the Caspian Sea, walk along Rhodope Boulevard, taste delicious national cuisine. At the beginning of autumn, take part in the Caucasian Mineral Waters are the Pearl of Russia hot air balloon festival.
To cover long distances in the city, you can use public transport or call a taxi. For mountain trips, you'd better rent a car.
In Derbent, the most ancient and the southernmost city in Russia, which is about 5,000 years old, you can and should walk not to miss anything. For example, make it along meandering streets to the synagogue, Russian church or Juma Mosque built in the 8th century, call at the carpet museum in the former Armenian church, touch the walls of the oldest Naryn Kala fortress recognized as the world heritage site. By the way, it's because of the walls of this citadel that Derbent got its name which means "narrow" or "locked" gate.
Here you can find plenty of orchards with pomegranates, figs, lemons, medlar, grapes, apricots, and Russia's famous walnuts. The ancient plane tree in Derbent became the best tree of Russia in 2020.
