Gamsutl Ghost Village

Gamsutl sits along the crest of a ridge at about 1400 metres in the mountains of central Dagestan, and it is very old - occupation is claimed back some two thousand years, though the standing houses are far more recent. The village was built of stone dug from the ridge, so the houses are the same colour as the rock and read from a distance as an outcrop rather than a settlement, terraced one above another with shared walls. People left through the twentieth century for the lowlands and the towns; the last resident died in 2015, and the place has been empty since. What remains is roofless rooms, doorways, arches with carved lintels, stairways and lanes, with grass growing through. It has become one of the most visited places in Dagestan, which is changing it: paths are worn, some walls have fallen, and the quiet that was the point is not always there.

What you actually see

• The stone village - houses cut from the ridge rock, terraced along the crest.
• The emptiness - roofless rooms and lanes with no one living there since 2015.
• The carved lintels - doorways and arches with worked stone still in place.
• The height - a ridge at about 1400 metres with mountains on all sides.

When to go

May to October. Half a day including the walk. Early morning avoids both heat and crowds.

Honest expectations

The final approach is a steep climb of about an hour with no shade; transport goes only to the trailhead. Ruins are unstable and there are no barriers. It is crowded on summer weekends. Roads in mountain Dagestan are slow and often single track.

Nearby

Chokh village is below; Gunib and the Karadakh gorge are within an hour.