Gamsutl is a ghost town in the Gunibsky district of Dagestan, Russia, that lies on the Mount Gamsutlmeer at an altitude of roughly 1,400 meters above sea level.[1]

History

'Gamsutl' in Avar language means "at the foot of the khan's fortress".[2]

The exact age of the village is unknown,[3] but it is considered to be one of the oldest settlements in Dagestan, being 2,000 to 5,000 years old.[1] In its peak, the village consisted of 300 homes[1] with up to 3,000 inhabitants.[3] In the 20th century the village had shops, a post office, and a hospital.[2][1] In the late 1950s people began to leave the village, the number of inhabitants fell to 200 in 1970 and to 17 in 2002.[3] In 2015, the village's last resident, Abdulzhalil Abdulzhalilov, died.[1] He called himself mayor and became quite famous after a series of television reports.[3][4] Now Gamsutl is uninhabited and visited only by tourists.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Gamsutl". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Гамсутль — Республика Дагестан". russia.travel. Federal Agency for Tourism. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d "Der Machu Picchu des Kaukasus - Gamsutl". rhein-wolga.info. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  4. ^ "В Дагестане предложили возродить древнее село". rg.ru. Российская газета. Retrieved 25 October 2021.