North Ossetia, City of the Dead
Lucas Meadows stashed this in MY CRAZY STASH
Reaching this mystifying destination requires a three-hour drive, taking you down a dangerous and hidden road befitting a journey to the City of the Dead.
The village of Dargavs, or the City of the Dead, has an ancient cemetery where people that lived in the valley buried their loved ones along with their clothes and belongings. The valley stretches for 17 kilometers, and the cemetery contains almost 100 ancient stone crypts.
Local legends have it that in the 18th century a plague swept through Ossetia. The clans built quarantine houses for sick family members, who were provided with food but not the freedom to move about, until death claimed their lives. People who did not have any remaining family members to bury them would just wait in the massive cemetery until their death. It was a very slow and painful way to go, and in the City of Death they stay.
Stashed in: Russia and Friends
Took me till the last paragraph to realize this is in Russia.
Locals bemoan the young generation's attraction to bright cities, contending that the young are missing out on a lot. Russia has a lot of truly unique places to offer but these historic sites do not attract much attention. If, however, one spends some time in North Ossetia, they say it's possible to feel the ancient vibes around the city and its surrounding area. Once you get to the city you will find what at first appear to be lots of little white houses but are actually stone crypts, the oldest dating back to the 16th century. In front of every crypt there is a well that was used to tell if a person made it to heaven. Visitors drop a coin into the well, and if the coin happened to hit a stone at the bottom of the well, it was said to be a good sign.
3:23 PM Aug 26 2015