The Mozdok Plain in the North Caucasus, where this city is located, is part of North Ossetia (North Ossetia Alania). The city of Mozdok is adjacent to Chechnya, the Stavropol Territory, Kabardino-Balkaria. It is located directly at an altitude of 130 meters above sea level.
Mozdok, where there is an intersection of highways (routes P262 and P296) and a railway station, occupies a very advantageous geographical location. For fans of air travel: the nearest airports are in Vladikavkaz (60 km) and in Nalchik (87 km), with which the city has regular bus services.
The deep-water Terek, slowing down its run on the plain, girdles the place where the city of Mozdok is located from the south, and not only serves to irrigate fields, orchards, vineyards, but is also a favorite place for active recreation of kayakers. And numerous hardened lakes in the river valley are rich in fish and attract supporters of the “silent hunt”. The Terek Valley in the Mozdok Plain lies among the forests. The largest and most beautiful of them is the Albor Forest.
North Ossetia Alania. G. Mozdok. 5 months of summer
So. Mozdok, where the steppe climate zone of the Caspian lowland is located, boasts a long - from May to September - hot (up to 35 degrees) in the summer and mild short winters. Snow here rarely lingers for several days. The rainiest period is from April to July, the windiest month is August. It is noteworthy that during the construction of industrial facilities the wind rose of the city was taken into account, therefore the air in Mozdok is clean. Not polluted by enterprise emissions.
A small city with a long history
Translated from Circassian, the name of the city means "dark forest." It appeared in the middle of the 18th century as a fortified fortress on the Azov-Mozdok line, which served to protect the borders of the Russian Empire. The Georgian Military Highway passed through the city; it was a time of prosperity for Mozdok. With the transfer of the tract to the mountains, the city lost the trade routes passing through it. A milestone with signs reminds of past times: Daryal, Tiflis, Tehran and a bas-relief with a cab on a span harnessed by a pair of horses, namely a pair, since it was impossible to drive along the narrow mountain roads in those days.
Warlords and Rebels
The path of many famous people ran through Mozdok. Prince Grigory Potemkin came to visit his nephew . Here, before the start of the Peasant War, Emelyan Pugachev was arrested, who, according to one legend, aroused suspicion among traders in the market that he was paying with large banknotes. He escaped from arrest and led a riot in the Urals. Mozdok, where the monument to the leader of the uprising is located, carefully preserves the huge oak - the same age as the city and witness to many events.
Alexander Suvorov also came to the city, not only to check military fortifications, but also to meet with relatives of an Armenian mother, whose family had fled here from Karabakh, having found refuge in Mozdok from the massacres of the Turks.
Outstanding poets
Alexander Griboedov, appointed secretary with an attorney in Persia, making a long journey to the duty station on the Georgian Military Drog, stayed in Mozdok, and set forth his impressions in the notes “Mozdok – Tiflis”, in which he briefly described the Caucasus and Persia at the beginning of the 19th century. For example: “A curved Terek is planted with forest from Mozdok to Shelkozavodsk. In the stanitsas, Old Believers and wives are in the service of the ridge, the children are armed ... ”
According to legend, Alexander Pushkin drove through Mozdok and, again, according to legend, either fell ill with malaria, or waited a long time for horses, but was angry with the city. “I don’t go to Mozdok anymore” - this phrase is attributed to the poet. Whether Pushkin visited the city or not is not clear, but the monument to him is erected here in the square bearing his name, like the street passing nearby. This line sounds like a refrain in one of the modern war songs.
Heart in the palm
Mozdok, where the Memorial to the combatants in Afghanistan is located, played an important role in the fight against terrorists in the North Caucasus. And the memorial, unusual in appearance and piercing impression - a monument to those who died in all wars: an open hand, on which you can see a grenade on one side, and, coming in from the other side, a heart.
Solar plexus
There are figurative expressions: "The Caucasus - the solar plexus of Eurasia" and "Mozdok - the solar plexus of the North Caucasus." This definition is not accidental. Mozdok - where is it? The 40 thousandth city is a place where the population is made up of representatives of dozens of nationalities professing different religions, but everyone respects each other's culture and customs.