There are legends like this and even much more eerie about the medieval settlement of Dargavs.
Image source: https://www.calvertjournal.com.
The medieval town of Dargavs in southern Russia, now a ruined complex of buildings, was once the centre of the Ossetian province of Tagauria. Situated near the Georgian border, Dargavs is essentially a cemetery town, which in itself would not be so unusual, as many of today's thriving cities were built on cemeteries, such as Paris.
The size of Dargavs is truly alarming, with the remains of no less than 10 000 people
This number would not be large if we would talk about a metropolis, but there is no city of any size around the former Ossetian centre. Moreover, Dragavs is still shrouded in mystery, and archaeologists have not yet been able to fully unravel the history of the area, for example, they do not know exactly when it was built.
It is clear that the area has been used as a burial ground since the 16th century, but why such a large centre was built here is not clear.
There are two theories about the origin of Dargavs:
- According to one, the Mongol-Tatar invasion left too little space for the dead, so the locals in the Caucasus valley began to build above-ground crypts.
- The other theory is that the city was founded in the Indo-Iranian tradition by Sarmatian migrants who settled in southern Russia. This group of people respected the land so much that they buried their dead above it.
Dargavs consists of 99 crypts, each with just one window
Image source: https://thumbs.dreamstime.com.
According to BBC, "Some of the corpses inside are so well preserved that flesh is still attached to their bones."
There is also a watchtower in Dargavs, which is rumoured to have been used to guard souls
Image source: https://darktourists.com.
Image source: https://rusmania.com.
According to historians, the city of the death also played a major role during the plague epidemic. According to surviving accounts, the infected inhabitants set up quarantines in the Dargavs crypt, where they awaited death. To prevent the spread of the disease, sometimes entire families and neighbourhoods were quarantined. During the quarantine, even those who had not been sick before caught the plague.
Image source: https://static.toiimg.com.
The locals tried their best to ensure that the quarantined people could leave with dignity, carrying food for them until they died
Another mystery about Dargavs is why some of the dead in the crypts were buried in boats. There are no rivers in the area that are suitable for navigation. According to archaeologists, in ancient times, locals believed that to get to heaven you had to cross a river, so they made coffins resembling boats for the dead, with oars attached.
The locals do not like the area much, mostly because of superstitions, and tourists do not really visit it either, because it is remote and secluded.
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