Naryn-Kala Citadel

The strip of land between the eastern Caucasus and the Caspian is about three kilometres wide at Derbent, and it is the route between the steppe and the Middle East, so it was walled. The Sasanian empire built the system in the sixth century: a citadel on the hill, and two parallel walls running from it down to the sea, sealing the corridor and forcing traffic through the gates. The citadel, Naryn-Kala, encloses several hectares with towers, a Sasanian water cistern, a bath house, a cross-shaped structure argued over as an early church or a cistern, and later khan's palace remains. Below it the old town runs downhill between the two walls in a grid of narrow lanes to the Juma mosque. The northern wall survives well; the sea end was lost as the Caspian level changed. The listing covers the citadel and the wall system together.

What you actually see

• The Sasanian system - a sixth-century citadel with walls that ran mountain to sea.
• The cisterns and bath - underground water works inside the citadel.
• The disputed cross-shaped building - read by some as an early church, by others as a cistern.
• The old town between the walls - lanes running downhill inside the surviving corridor.

When to go

April to June and September to October; midsummer on this coast is very hot. Two to three hours.

Honest expectations

The climb from the old town is steep and there is little shade on the hill. Interior remains are ruinous and interpretation is thin. Summer heat is severe. Derbent's old town is worth the walk but the lanes are steep and rough.

Nearby

The Juma mosque is downhill in the old town; the Caspian shore is below.