South Ossetia

South Ossetia (Хуссар Ирыстон in Ossetian, აფხაზეთი in Georgian, Южная Осетия in Russian) is a 53 thousand people de facto state, considered de iure part of Georgia (who regard it as occupied by Russia) in the northern part of Georgia, by the border with Russia. It's surrounded by the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania in Russia and the regions of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Imereti, Shida Kartli and Mtskheta-Mtianeti in Georgia. The population has a mostly Orthodox Christian tradition, although Assianism (Scythian Neopaganism) is growing in importance too. The official languages are Ossetian and Russian (although Georgian is recognised too) and its currency is the Russian ruble (₽). The main and capital city of South Ossetia is Tskhinvali.

How do I arrive to South Ossetia?

  South Ossetia can't be reached from Georgia because the roads are cut to foreigners (even locals are many time forbidden to cross to the de facto territory). Therefore, the easiest way of entering South Ossetia is doing it from Russia (but Georgia sees it as an illegal entry in its territory, with important punishments).

• Bus: there are buses from Vladikavkaz in North Ossetia-Alania (Russia) to South Ossetia, arriving to Tskhinvali. The visitor will be at the mercy of Russian authorities and the entrance may be denied and, in order not to have problems it can be a good idea to book a tour.
  
• Car: if you have a car from Tskhinvali it can be reached places in South Ossetia like Java (aprox. 25 minutes), Kornisi (aprox. 30 minutes), Bagiata (aprox. 45 minutes), Kvaisi (aprox. 1 hour 10 minutes) or Akhalgori (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes). It can also be reached from places in Russia such as Beslan (aprox. 2 hours 40 minutes), Vladikavkaz (aprox. 2 hours 45 minutes) or Mozdok (aprox. 3 hours 45 minutes) in North Ossetia-Alania; or Nazran (aprox. 3 hours) in Ingushetia (aprox. 3 hours 15 minutes).

History

Map of the Caucasus in 1245,  
including Georgia and Alania

The Ossetians are believed to originate from the Alans, a nomadic Iranian tribe who emerged in the northern Caucasus Mountains in the 8th century (being a consolidated kingdom referred as Alania). The territory of contemporary South Ossetia was part of the ancient Georgian Kingdom of Iberia. This kingdom was unified under the single Georgian monarchy in 11th century, and the territory of what's now South Ossetia extended its possessions up to Dvaleti (in the south of North Ossetia, Russia). The area had also a number of nomadic tribes that roamed the area. Alania fell to the Mongol in the 13th century and later to the Timur's armies, that massacred much of the Alanian population. Survivors among the Alans retreated into the mountains of the central Caucasus and then gradually started migration to the south to what's now South Ossetia. Gori was captured by the Alan tribesmen in 1299, fleeing the Mongol conquest of their original homeland in the North Caucasus. However, the Georgian king George V recovered the town in 1320, pushing the Alans back over the Caucasus mountains.

Ossetians started a second wave of migration from the North Caucasus to Georgia in the 17th century, because pressure of Kabardian princes. Ossetian peasants often settled in the lands of Georgian feudal lords and this immigration was permitted by the king of the Kingdom of Kartli. In the 1770s there were more Ossetians living in Kartli (many of their settlements were located in the Duchy of Ksani)

Duchy of Ksani 
in the 17th century

than ever before and by the end of 18th century, the ultimate sites of Ossetian settlement on the territory of modern South Ossetia were in Kudaro, Greater Liakhvi gorge, the gorge of Little Liakhvi, Ksani River gorge, Guda and Truso. Ossetian migration to Georgian areas continued in the 19th and 20th centuries, with Ossetian settlements in Trialeti, Borjomi, Bakuriani and Kakheti emerged as well
As part of the Georgian Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, modern South Ossetia was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1801. After the Russian revolution and the declaration of independence of Georgia, the area of modern South Ossetia was made part of the Democratic Republic of Georgia. But since the very beginning (1918), conflict began between the landless Ossetian peasants living in Shida Kartli (who, influenced by Bolshevism, demanded ownership of the lands they worked) and the Menshevik Georgian government (backed ethnic Georgian aristocrats, who were legal owners).

Ossetian uprisings in 1920

Although initially the discontented was only with the economic policies of the central government, the tension soon transformed into ethnic conflict. In February of that year, three Georgian princes were killed and their land was seized by the Ossetians. The central government sent the National Guard to the area but then retreated after they had engaged the Ossetians. Ossetian rebels proceeded to occupy the town of Tskhinvali and began attacking the ethnic Georgian civilian population. These Ossetian uprisings took place in 1919 and 1920 too and, although supported by Soviet Russia, they weren't successful. The crushing of the 1920 uprising caused the death of 5,000 Ossetians (known as the Ossetian genocide), while ensuing hunger and epidemics were the causes of death of more than 13,000 people.

Georgia SSR and its 
autonomous territories in 1922

After the Red Army invasion of Georgia in 1921, the Soviet Georgian government created, under pressure from the Caucasian Bureau of the Central Committee of the Russian Communist Party, an autonomous administrative unit for South Ossetians in 1922, the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast. It's believed that the Bolsheviks granted this autonomy to the Ossetians in exchange for their help in fighting the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Drawing the administrative boundaries of the South Ossetian AO was quite a complicated process (many Georgian villages were included within the autonomous oblast, such as parts of Gori Uyezd, Dusheti Uyezd and Racha Uyezd), with the city of Tskhinvali (that didn't have a majority Ossetian population) being made the capital. Although Russian and Georgian were the administrative and state languages, Ossetians enjoyed cultural autonomy, including speaking and teaching the Ossetian language.

Anastas Mikoyan, Josef Stalin 
and Sergo Orjonikidze

There was discussion to create a united republic for Ossetians, incorporating both North and South Ossetia (proposed by Ossetian authorities in 1925). Sergo Orjonikidze opposed incorporating the proposed state into Russia (fearing it would lead to unrest in Georgia), so her asked Stalin about placing all of Ossetia within Georgia. Stalin initially approved, but later decided against it, fearing it would lead to other ethnic groups in Russia demanding to leave Russian Soviet Socialist Republic. The main ethnic group of the South Ossetian AO was the Ossetians (a stable majority of over two-thirds of the population) with Georgians constituted the only significant minority (between 25 and 30% of the population), but about half of all families in the region were of mixed Ossetian-Georgian heritage.

Demographic evolution in South Ossetia in the 20th century

In 1989, two-thirds of Ossetians in the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic lived outside the South Ossetian AO. Tensions in the region began to rise amid rising nationalism among both Georgians and Ossetians in 1989. In 1989, the South Ossetian regional council asked the Georgian Supreme Council to upgrade the region to the status of an autonomous republic, revoked by the Georgian parliament. The situation was worsened when the Georgian Supreme Council adopted a law barring regional parties in 1990.

Results of  
South Ossetia War (1991-92)

Concerned with the upswing of Georgian nationalism, the South Ossetian AO began to look to leave Georgia and on December 11, 1990 it declared itself to be a soviet republic under direct control of the Soviet Union. The same day, the Georgian parliament dissolved the South Ossetian AO (reducing it to a mere region of Georgia). Georgian troops entered Tskhinvali on 5 January 1991 and this was only the beginning of the South Ossetia War (1991-1992), characterised by general disregard for international humanitarian law. A ceasefire was ordered by Mikhail Gorbachev in January 1991 but Zviad Gamsakhurdia, the president of Georgia, asserted that the Soviet leadership was encouraging South Ossetian separatism to force Georgia not to leave the Soviet Union. Still, Georgia declared its independence in April 1991.

Georgian Civil War

As a result of the war, about 100,000 ethnic Ossetians fled the territory (most across the border into North Ossetia) and 23,000 ethnic Georgians fled South Ossetia to other parts of Georgia. During the Georgian Civil War (1992-1993), Zviad Gamsakhurdia was expelled and Eduard Shevardnadze assumed control of Georgia. Shevardnadze and the South Ossetian government signed the Sochi ceasefire agreement in 1992, brokered by Russia (avoiding the use of force, Georgia not imposing sanctions against South Ossetia and retained control over substantial portions of South Ossetia, including the town of Akhalgori). From then until mid-2004, South Ossetia was generally peaceful.

Demonstration after 2006 referendum

Following the 2003 Rose Revolution, Mikheil Saakashvili became the President of Georgia and he promised to restore the territorial integrity of Georgia. The Georgian government protested against the allegedly increasing Russian economic and political presence in the region and against the uncontrolled military of the South Ossetian side. In 12 November 2006, South Ossetians (mostly ethnic Ossetians) went to the polls to vote in a referendum regarding the region's independence from Georgia, resulting in yes to independence with a turnout above 95% (also a vote in favour of a new term for South Ossetia's president, Eduard Kokoity). Tensions between Georgia and Russia began escalating in April 2008.

Georgian tank destroyed in Tskhinvali
during the Russo-Georgian War

A bomb explosion targeted a car transporting Georgian peacekeepers, marking the opening of hostilities. In 7 August 2008, Georgian president Saakashvili announced a unilateral ceasefire and called for peace talks but assaults against Georgian villages were soon matched towards Tskhinvali. According to Georgian intelligence and several Russian media reports, parts of the regular Russian Army had already moved to South Ossetian territory through the Roki Tunnel before the Georgian military action, launching a large-scale land, air and sea invasion of Georgia, beginning the Russo-Georgian War of 2008 (Abkhaz forces opened a second front by attacking the Kodori Gorge too). Tskhinvali was seized by the Russian military, occupied the Georgian cities of Zugdidi, Senaki, Poti and Gori.

Dmitry Nedvedev, president of  
Russia, visiting South Ossetia

At the same time, a campaign of ethnic cleansing against Georgians in South Ossetia was conducted by South Ossetians, with Georgian villages around Tskhinvali being destroyed after the war had ended. The war displaced 192,000 people and around 30,000 ethnic Georgians remained displaced (Eduard Kokoity said he would not allow Georgians to return). A ceasefire agreement was negotiated by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on 12 August 2008. Then Russia recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as separate republics and the Georgian government severed diplomatic relations with Russia. Since the war, Georgia has maintained that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are Russian-occupied Georgian territories. This unilateral recognition by Russia was met by condemnation from Western Blocs (the European Union, Council of Europe, NATO and most UN member countries do not recognize South Ossetia as an independent state).

Meeting of Anatoliy Bibilov  
and Vladimir Putin in 2017

On 30 August 2008, it was announced that the region would soon be absorbed into Russia, so that South and North Ossetians could live together in one united Russian state (residents in Akhalgori, the biggest ethnic Georgian town in South Ossetia, were given the choice of accepting Russian citizenship or leaving). The South Ossetian and Russian presidents signed an alliance and integration treaty in 2015, including provisions to incorporate the South Ossetian military into Russia's armed forces, integrate the customs service of South Ossetia into that of Russia's, and commit Russia to paying state worker salaries in South Ossetia at rates equal to those in the North Caucasus. South Ossetian President Leonid Tibilov proposed in December 2015 a name change to South Ossetia-Alania, endorsed by nearly 80%. That same year the presidential race was won by Anatoliy Bibilov.

Currently South Ossetia is only recognised by the de facto countries of Transnistria, Abkhazia and Artsaj; and by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Syria (formerly by Vanuatu and Tuvalu).

 

What can I visit in South Ossetia?

South Ossetia is much less accessible and open to travel that Abkhazia, and there's much more tension in the area. 

South Ossetia requires a visa for visitors (foreign access is restricted but not impossible) and an invitation should arranged online (some contact information: fasivadruo@gmail.com, +7 (8502) 45-23-77) in the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Ossetia. Documents can also be arranged in the South Ossetian embassy in Moscow and in the consular agency in Vladikavkaz. For Russian citizens (and citizens of states that Russia has a visa-free regim with), entry visa isn't requited and only a passport or ID is required. All foreign citizens must register within 3 days register in the Immigration control office of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of South Ossetia.

Despite the country lacks money (and therefore many of its towns and monuments are in very poor conditions) there are many places to do here, having an awesome nature and history (a place that in other circunstances would probably be full of tourists all year long).

• 

  Views of Tskhinvali
  

  Tskhinvali (Чъреба in Ossetian, ცხინვალი in Georgian, Цхинвал in Russian): a 32,180 inhabitants town by Great Liakhvi river, being the de facto capital of the unrecognised country of South Ossetia and de iure part of region of Shida Kartli in Georgia. It was named Staliniri from 1934 to 1961. One of its most important parts is the Jewish Quarter, very picturesque although severe destruction during the Ossetian-Georgian Conflict (1992) and the Russo-Georgian War (2008). The city preserves many of its Stalinist architecture too, as it can be seen in the Bas-relief at the Tskhinvali Post Office (beautiful bas-relief that shows demonstrates workers of all professions in South Ossetia).
  

  • 

    Surb Astvatsatsin Armenian 
    Apostolic Church
    

    Surb Astvatsatsin Armenian Apostolic Church: cross-domed church that dates back to 18th century (built in 1718 during the reign of king Vakhtang VI), regarded by Georgia and the Georgian Orthodox Church as Tskhinvali Cathedral since 1995. Its southern façade bears an inscription executed in Mkhedruli script and its interior was plastered, but no paintings have remained. It also have a nice belfry and the arches of the dome with characteristic features of the late Middle Ages. In the 19th century, it was taken over by the Armenian community in Tskhinvali, quite strong at that time. Next to this building is Old Tskhinvali Bridge, a

    

    
    

    bridge across river Great Liakhvi from 1893 that needs urgent reparations.
  • Parliament of South Ossetia: building in Stalinist style that was built in 1937. The building hosted the parliament of the South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast in Soviet times and then the parliament of the de facto Republic of South Ossetia. It resulted very damaged in the Russo-Georgian War of 2008, but restored afterwards.
    

    

    Exhibitions at the National
    Museum of South Ossetia

  • National Museum of South Ossetia: museum that teaches about the history and art of the Ossetians and South Ossetia (obviously from their point of view), placed in the former building of the state bank from the 1930s. Most of the collections are focused on ethnography (weapons, household items, tools or national Ossetian clothes) and archeological objects, some of its main highlights are the items from the Tli burial ground related to the Koban culture of the Bronze Age, paintings and graphics on mythological and historical themes by Maharbek Tuganov (founder of modern Ossetian art), and the part focused in Ossetian WW2 heroes.
    
  • Building of Iriston Hotel:

    

    Tskhinvali Theatre
    

    complex of buildings that were built in the 1930s, some of them hosting residential buildings and others, the Iriston Hotel. The complex resulted badly damaged the Russo-Georgian War of 2008 and is currently been restored.
  • Tskhinvali Theatre: theater building built in the 1930s. It was completely burned out but its recovery is planned.
  • Tskhinvali Synagogue: 19th-20th century synagogue, being the only one that remained opened in Soviet times and home of the largest Jewish community in the Caucasus.

    

    Tskhinvali Synagogue
    

    This was one of the seven synagogues that operated in Tskhinvali, then known as Georgian Jerusalem; 50.3% professed Judaism in the city according to 1883 census. During the Soviet years, most synagogues were closed and since the 1970s, inmigration to Israel began to intensify.
    
  • St. Georgi Kavtinsky Church: hall church with origin situated between the 9th and 11th centuries. One of its most characteristic features is the eastern double window, placed in one niche. Its interior is plastered and small remains of the frescoes of the walls are still preserved,

    

    St. Georgi Kavtinsky Church
    

    as well as traces of the adjoining vaults of the side-chapels.
    
  • Monument of Military Glory and Heroes of the Second World War: monument that pays tribute to the victory of the Soviet Union in WW2.
  • St. Nikolai Chudotvortsa Church: small hall church with a semicircular apse on the east side. It was in very poor conditions but it was restored in 2011.
    
  • St. Georgi Church of Zguder: 17th century church with its façades and interiors whitewashed, where the local cemetery is. The decoration of the church is a relief image of a cross on the western façade.  Next to the church it can be found a large park by the river, Valery Khubulov Park.
    

  • 

    Remains of Sabatsminda Monastery

    In the outskirts of Tskhinvali there's the village of Kheiti (Хеит in Ossetian, ხეითი in Georgian), a village with 36 inhabitants that used to be mostly ethnic-Georgian. In this village and its area, there are several religious buildings such as Sabatsminda Monastery. This monastery complex includes a church, the residential tower from the 17th and 18th centuries, and the surrounding wall. Its church dates back to the 10th century and is now in ruins. It was richly decorated with carved stone ornamentation, even in the capitals of the columns, and has inscriptions in Georgian asomtavruli script. This temple is considered an important architectural monument from the 10th century in Georgia.

    

    Ghost town of Kurta
    

    And another important temple is Dzelitskhoveli Church, 13th-14th century church that was rebuilt under Zakaria Kurdgelashvili, who commissioned the paintings too. It survives in an extremely damaged condition.
  • A bit in the north of Kheiti it can be found the abandoned village of Kurta (Курта in Ossetian, ქურთა in Georgian), one of the few towns that remained under the control of Georgia between the South Ossetia War (1991-1992) and the Russo-Georgian War of 2009, populated largely by ethnic Georgians. Some of its most interesting ruins are the medieval church and the Former Palace of Machabeli.

    

    Ruins of Achabeti Fortress
    

    
    
  • Next to the road that connects Tskhinvali and Java the visitor can have a loot at the Ruins of Achabeti Fortress, old fortress by river Liakhvi that is first mentioned in the 16th century, then famous for its robustness. Today only some of its towers remain.
    
  • By river Mumla, 10 km north from Tskhinvali, there's Tiri Monastery. This monastery complex includes a 13th-century single-naved church, a 14th-century belfry, a refectory and monks’ cells hewn out of the rock next the northern façade of the church.

    

    Georgian inscriptions in 
    Tiri Monastery
    

    It retains its original layout and its rich array of carved ornamentation, inscriptions and wall paintings, being one of the most important monasteries of the Didi Liakhvi River Gorge. It's the burial place of the son of King Vakhtang VI too. In 2015, the church building was subjected to maintenance works which infringed on authenticity and partially damaged the frescoes, leading to a controversy in South Ossetia and protests from Georgia.
    
• In the way from Tskhinvali to the municipality of Akhalgori there are several places that are worth a visit. One of them, 8 km far from the capital, is Eredvi Basilica.

  

  Eredvi Basilica
  

  This Georgian three-church basilica constructed by the architect Tevdore Taplaisdze that, despite later reconstructions, has largely preserved its original architectural features. It has some inscriptions in medieval Georgian asomtavruli script and an ambulatory enveloping the church from all four sides as main highlights. Its nearby village, Eredvi, was demolished by South Ossetian authorities in 2017 because it was ruined and deprived of its ethnic Georgian population. Another interesting church here is Kulbiti Church, a 18th century church that follows traditional Georgian design, although there are some new motifs that reflect 18th century design. Further it can be found Bieti Monastery, a half-ruined medieval Georgian hall church partially carved into rock with origin in the 9th century. The church’s eastern façade bore a long inscription (cut out and brought to the National Museum of Georgia (Tbilisi) for safekeeping.

  

  Ikorta Church
  

  Just in the border with Georga it's placed Ikorta Complex, a complex  that was originally a palace, from which only the citadel (Palace of Ksani Rulers) and Ikorta Church remain. The latter is a 12th century Georgian church commissioned by the ducal family of Ksani, one of the canonical model of a Georgian domed cross-in-square church and a significant cultural center throughout the centuries and burial place for the Eristavs of Ksani (such as the saints Shalva and Elizbar Eristavs and Bidzina Cholokashvili). Its architecture mixes early and transitional medieval Georgian style. 

• 

  Zonkari Reservoir
  

  Just in a point betwen the districts of Tskhinvali and Akhalgori, the visitor may visit Usanet (1,842 m high), a mountain sacred place for the Ossetians in Mejudi Valley.
  
• In this part of South Ossetia, getting deeper into its rural part, a good idea can be trying to visit Liakhvi Nature Reserve. Beloti Fortress, remains of a defensive structure that belonged to the Eristavs of Ksani from the 18th century. It includes four 17th century towers and the fortress was abandoned after the annexation of Georgia by the Russian Empire. Near is located Zonkari Reservoir, a reservoir in a tributary of the river Little Liakhvi. It's used as a source of drinking water for the territory (though hindering the migration of trout).

  

  Sunset at Liakhvi Strict 
  Nature Reserve
  

  In 2009 a natural disaster took place, which meant the flooding of many nearby villages.
  
• The main natural reserve in all the territory of South Ossetia is Liakhvi Strict Nature Reserve, a 120 km² protected area whose main goal is protecting flora and fauna in surrounding mountainous region. It's situation around Little Liakhvi Gorge, considered an important touristic attraction because of ethnological, bird-watching and botanical reasons. Here it can also be found the remains of a surveillance tower, Inauri Tower.
  
• Akhalgori

  

  Residence of Ksani Rulers
  

  (Ленингор in Ossetian and Russian, ახალგორი in Georgian): 1,033 people town by river Ksani in the southeastern part of South Ossetia. Although it was founded by Armenians, most of the inhabitants used to be ethnic Georgians; many of them had to flee after the Georgia-Ossetian conflict.
  • Residence of the Ksani Rulers (9-18 Mon-Fri; ):two-storey stone palace-castle built between the 17th and 18th centuries to be the home of the eristavs (dukes) of Ksani. Inside it has an exhibition where it can be seen old icons, household clothes and utensils.

    

    Khopa Monastery
    

  • St. Bogoroditsy Orthodox Church: church built of bricks and filled with cobblestone, recently constructed and paid by the Ossetian diaspora.
    
  • Leningor Park: park that has a monument that pays tribute to the fighters against Georgia, the Memorial to the Defenders of the Fatherland (controversial because local Georgians are against it).
    
  • Vaery close to Akhalgori it's located Khopa Monastery, 13th century Georgian style hall-church in the Ksani Gorge. It isn't very well preserved, but it keeps very rich carving decoration on its exterior and some fragments of its frescoes. The complex has a 18th century bell tower and remains of other buildings too.

    

    Armazi Church
    

  • On the way to Tskhinvali there are also many other churches and monasteries; one of them is Kabeni Monastery, monastery with origin in the 9th century, including a domed church and ruins of other secondary structures. It has carvings on its exterior and fragments of the 13th century frescoes too. Unfortunately, it's in very poor conditions. Continuing it's Armazi Church, a Georgian style church built in 864. It's a remarkable monument of the transitional Georgian architecture, although it has an unusual composition (doesn't have a dome and is placed under a roof). Its original iconostasis, 9th century paintings and lapidary inscription are preserved.
    

    

    Tsirkoli Church
    

  • In case of wanting to explore the north of the municipality of Akhalgori, by river Ksani, there are plenty of churches and monasteries too. The closest one is Tsirkoli Church, 8th-9th-century Georgian church that combines the features of domeless and domed church designs of the transitional period of medieval Georgian architecture. The circular columns, the strong pilasters, the arch system and the dome combine to create an unique temple. The interior bears fragments of the 10th-11th-century frescoes. Continuing north are located the Ruins of Tskhavati Monastery,

    

    Largvisi Monastery
    

    remains of several churches whose construction go back to the 7th-11th centuries. Next to it there's Largvisi Monastery, a medieval Georgian monastery from the early 14th century that was a familial abbey of the Kvenipneveli dynasty, Dukes of Ksani (one of the leading noble families of the Kingdom of Kartli). Its main temple is a domed cross-in-square church that dates to 1759 and when king Erekle II subjugated the eristavs of Ksani, Largvisi lost its strategic importance. Above the western window is a sculpture carved in stone (a human right hand and tools of masonry). 
• Kornisi (Знауыр in Ossetian,  ყორნისი in Georgian, Знаур in Russian): a 451 inhabitants village in the southwestern part of South Ossetia, de iure part of the region of Shida Kartli.

  

  Tigva Monastery
  

  Its name was changed in Ossetian and Russia to Znauri, paying tribute to the Ossetian revolutionary Znaur Aidarov. 
  • On the outskirts of the village the visitor can explore Tigva Monastery, ruins of a medieval Georgian domed cross-in-square monastic church. It was founded by Queen Tamar in 1152, according to the Georgian asomtavruli scripts, and renovated in the 19th century.This church is noted for ascetic design and lack of decorations, being the presence of narthex and choir on the west some of its characteristic features. It used to have frescoes in the walls, but now are barely discernible.
    

  • 

    Tsarbis Tower
    

    In the north of Kornisi it can also be seen Tsarbis Tower, a five-storey tower in rectangular plan. As a curiosity, several stone blocks that have a schematic representation of a human hand are inserted into the masonry of the facades.
  • Also close to Kornisi there's Avenvi Church, a 14th-15th century Georgian cross-domed shape and triconch type church. Its interior is plastered and painted and it has several stone carvings too.
    

• 

  Dzhery Dzuar Sanctuary
  

  Java (Дзау in Ossetian, ჯავა in Georgian, Джава in Russian): 1,500 inhabitants town in the heart of South Ossetia, 22 km far from Tskhinvali. It is the 2nd largest town in all South Ossetia and home of one of the two Russian bases in the territory of Sauth Ossetia. It was de facto center of the Ossetians of the South Caucasus after the collapse of the Russian Empire and a significant health resort.
  • Not far from the town it can be found, after taking a hike here, Dzhery Dzuar Sanctuary.

    

    Ruins of Abaza Tower
    

    This place is has a Christian church from the 17th century, whose architecture that resembles an early medieval Georgian one-domed church with a bell tower and honours St. George. But for followers of Ossetian traditional religion, the site honours Uastyrdzhi (a deity in Ossetian mythology who heals the mentally ill people).
    
  • Around Java it can be found some typical Caucasian towers and remains of them. The main one can be ruins of Abaza Tower. In the way to Java, cars cross Guftinsky Bridge (photogenic bridge that connects the banks of Great Liakhvi river; it was a visiting card of South Ossetia in Soviet times).
    
• Kvaisa (Къуайса in Ossetian, კვაისი in Georgian, Квайса in Russian):

  

  Views of Kvaisa
  

  985 inhabitants village by river Jejora, in the northwestern part of South Ossetia. It used to belong to the region of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti and around the town, there are lead and zinc deposits and a hydroelectric power station. It suffered an important earthquake in 2009.
  • Ruins of Kvaisa Church: ruins of a 10th century church whose façades were adorned with carved blocks. These carved stone blocks are among the most important specimens of Georgian medieval

    

    Morakh Cross
    

    sculpture but unfortunately, these blocks have become lost. Only the ruins of the single-naived church survive.
  • Before arriving to Kvaisa, it is interesint to stop at Morakh Cross. This small stone crucifix dates back to the 11th century, installed by Georgian craftsmen.
    
  • Close to this town, in the border between South Ossetia and Russia, it can be enjoyed some of the highest mountains in the Caucasus. One of them is Mount Khalatsa (3,938 m high), the highest mountain in the de facto Republic of South Ossetia.

    

    Mount Khalatsa
    

    Near its top it can be found Khalatsa Glacier and, not far from here, North Zekari Glacier and South Zekari Glacier.
  • In this part of South Ossetia there are some passes that link this de facto territory to the Russian republic of North Ossetia-Alania; these passes are Kvdari Pass and Mamison Pass.

What and where can I eat in South Ossetia?

The best places to eat in South Ossetia are located in Tskhinvali, although the offer isn't very large. To get to know more about Ossetian food, please year this section in the post of North Ossetia-Alania.

Useful links

 In case you want to look for more information about South Ossetia (non-official other page about tourism in South Ossetia: https://ossetia.guide/ [EN]) or its cities and towns, here there's a list with some pages to get it:

• Tskhinvali (http://tskhinval.ru/) [RU].

Posted in: Europe,Georgia,South Ossetia