Georgian Military Road
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The Georgian Military Road (Военно-Грузинская дорога in Russian, or Voyenno-Gruzinskaya doroga) is a historic name of the main route through the Caucasus from Georgia to Russia.
It runs between Tbilisi (Georgia) and Vladikavkaz (Russia) and follows the traditional route used by invaders and traders throughout the ages. The road stretches some 208 kilometers through the Terek valley, crosses the Rocky Ridge (хребет Скалистый) in the Darial Gorge, then leads through the canyon of the Baidarka River to the mountain pass, from where it goes down to the valley of the Belaya Aragvi River and leads to Tbilisi along the right bank of the Kura(Mtkvari) River. The road was completed by the Russian military in 1799. With the Russian annexation of Georgia in 1801, the Russians began improving the surfacing of the road and finished by 1863. The Georgian Military Road played an important role in the development of economic relations between Russia and the Transcaucasus.
The road reaches an altitude of 7815 feet as it traverses the mountains. Among the scenic attractions found along its course are Mount Kazbek, Darial Gorge, Gergeti Trinity Church, ancient town of Mtskheta (once Georgia's capital), Jvari Monastery of the 6th century, medieval fortress of Ananauri and Zemo-Avchalskaya hydroelectric dam.
The Russian poet Mikhail Lermontov memorialized the road in his A Hero of our Time.