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DOI 10.23947/2414-1143-2020-24-4-114-122 UDC 39:379
TOURIST RESOURCES OF THE SHAROYSKY DISTRICT OF THE CHECHEN REPUBLIC: CHARACTERISTICS AND PERSPECTIVES OF CREATING AND USING OF AN OPEN-AIR MUSEUM
© Elena V. Dashkova, Elena B. Ivushkina
Chechen State University, Grozny, Chechen Republic, Russian Federation
Recent events in Russia have shown that it is necessary to develop country's domestic tourism and invest in it. Our country is quite competitive. One of the most perspective directions of development is the organization of tours with active types of recreation by tourist companies, the increase of their diversity, and their geographical expansion. The Chechen Republic is actively developing thanks to the support of the State. Recently, Chechnya has been an excellent place to get acquainted with culture, customs and sights of this region, since the Republic has diverse and unique resources for the active types of tourism. Tourist resources of the Chechen Republic, in particular, the Sharoysky District, are being investigated. The objects of cultural heritage of the region, history, possible tourist routes are considered. It was found that the Sharoysky district of the Chechen Republic may have a great future in the field of tourism development, since this is one of the mountainous regions of the Republic. It is necessary to develop active types of recreation combined with enlightening travel in this district, because the Sharoysky tower complex is a unique historical and cultural object that needs to be made an object of tourist interest.
Key words: tourist resources, Chechen Republic.
[Е.В. Дашкова, Е.Б. Ивушкина Туристкие ресурсы Шаройского района Чеченской республики: характеристика и перспективы использования музея под открытым небом]
Последние события в России показали, что необходимо развивать и вкладывать инвестиции во внутренний туризм страны. Наша страна вполне конкурентоспособна. Одним из самых перспективных направлений развития является организация туристскими фирмами туров с активными видами отдыха, увеличение их многообразия, расширение их географии. Чеченская Республика активно развивается, благодаря поддержке государства. В последнее время Чечня является прекрасным местом для знакомства с культурой, обычаями и достопримечательностями этого края, так как Республика обладает разнообразными и уникальными ресурсами для активных видов туризма. Исследуются туристские ресурсы Чеченской Республики, в частности, Шаройский район. Рассматриваются объекты культурного наследия района, история, возможные туристские маршруты. Сделан вывод, что у Шаройского района Чеченской Республики может быть большое будущее в сфере развития туризма, так как это один из горных районов Республики. И развивать там нужно активные виды отдыха, совмещенные с познавательными путешествиями, потому что Шаройский башенный комплекс - это уникальные историко-культурные объекты, которые необходимо сделать объектами туристского интереса.
Ключевые слова: туристские ресурсы, Чеченская Республика.
Elena V. Dashkova - Ph.D. in Philosophy, Associate Professor, Chechen State University, Grozny, Chechen Republic, Russian Federation.
Elena B. Ivushkina - Ph.D. (Advanced Doctorate) in Philosophy, Professor, Chechen State University, Grozny, Chechen Republic, Russian Federation.
Дашкова Елена Валерьевна - кандидат философских наук, доцент, Чеченский государственный университет, г. Гоозный, Российская Федерация.
Ивушкина Елена Борисовна - доктор философских наук, профессор, Чеченский государственный университет, г. Грозный, Российская Федерация.
Federal Law No. 132 - Federal Law "On the basics of tourist activity in the Russian Federation" gives the concept: "Tourist resources are natural, historical, social and cultural objects, including the objects of a tourist display, as well as other objects capable of satisfying spiritual and other needs of tourists, promoting the maintenance of their life-sustaining activity, restoring and developing their physical forces" [1].
Tourism activity is based on the use of tourist resources, which are objects of tourist interest that can meet the needs of tourists in getting knowledge and vivid impressions.
The classification of tourist resources can be presented as follows. The resources of tourist sphere of tourist destination are represented by tourist resources and resources as factors of production. In turn, tourist resources include natural (relief, climate, water), forming tourist interest (historical and cultural monuments, spectacular objects), infrastructural (hotels, transport, trade, food enterprises). Resources as factors of production include financial, labor, technical, material. Depending on their status, tourist resources are divided into the following categories of protection: "federal," "regional," "local".
In Russia, for a very long time, no one correlated recreational conditions and factors with resources, that can be explained by two reasons: the unusual characteristics of nature elements considered as recreational resources (for example, the beauty of the landscape, the singing of birds, the uniqueness of natural landscapes, the natural behavior of animals) and the fact that until recently, recreational activity itself did not belong to the economy according to most geographers and economists. Even after the sphere of recreational services became one of the spheres of economics, many researchers used either the old conceptual apparatus or the term "recreational resources," without changing ideas about its essence.
Resources functionally associated with certain spheres of recreational activity have a kind of territorial integrity, but each combination of resources can be considered as a special (multifunctional) type of territorial combination. Each such combination of recreational resources includes two groups.
The first group includes climatic, hydromineral (medicinal waters and therapeutic mud), hydrographic (oceans and lakes), orographic (mountains and hills), faunal, floristic and other resources. It is recognized by the structure of recreational cycles, and the names of resources coincide with the types of recreational activities.
The second group includes natural resources (energy, water, labor), which are not directly related to recreational activities, but without which recreational institutions cannot function. This group of resources is determined by the structure and characteristics of the institutions providing recreational services.
Functions of tourist and recreational resources include recreational (rest and treatment, restoration of physical and psychological forces of a person), cultural (familiarization with the cultural heritage of their people and peoples of other countries, traditions, customs, ways of life of other peoples), social (formation of new impressions, emotional outburst, socialization of personality), economic (the development of small and medium-sized businesses, the creation of small enterprises for the sale of tourist services, the increase income of the local population of the district with tourist resources).
Tourist resources should be recorded in the region's tourist resources inventory. Based on tourist resources, a travel program is formed - information about the time and sequence of visiting objects and geographical places included in the travel route [2].
Thus, tourism is based on the targeted and reasonable use of tourist resources. They serve as the basis for the formation of a tourist product for organizing tourist activities and attracting tourists.
Tourist resources of the Sharoysky district of the Chechen Republic
Sharoy village.
The village of Sharoy is located on the hill of a large mountain ridge above the channel of the Sharo-Argun river by about 150 meters. The ridge of the hill has an east-west orientation. From the north, the hill abruptly breaks down to the river. The southern hillside is gentler. In the west, the hill smoothly passes into the hillside of a mountain ridge. In the east, the hill almost steeply goes down into the Sharo-Argun river bottom. Previously, the northern hillside was used for hayfields. The road to the village from below from the valley goes along the northern hillside of the hill, bends around it and goes up serpentine to the pass.
The historical district of Sharoy lies in the upper Sharo-Argun river, to the east of the Chechen societies of Chanti and Khacharoy, to the west of Cheberloy. Its name is most likely associated with the adjective "shera" (smooth, flat), which in mountain dialects sounds like "shara". It may be explained by the fact that the Sharo-Argun course forms wide gorges with gentle banks. Sharoy consisted of several dozen villages, the largest of which were Sharoy, Himoy, Hakmadoy and Shi Karoy.
The famous Georgian historian I.A. Dzhavakhishvili associated the ethnonym "sarmat", which, in his opinion, sounded like "sharmat" with the toponyms Sharoy, Sharo-Argun. Since in Greek and Latin there is no sound "sh", it was recorded in ancient sources as "sarmat". The element "Shar, Sharo" is the oldest particle of the ethno-toponymic series and it is found in many toponyms in the Caucasus. According to the medieval Georgian chronicles, in the 10th century there was an estate of Sovereign Sharo in the territory of Abkhazia.
The village of Sharoy was a tower settlement, consisting of three military and several residential towers, which were located close to each other, forming an impregnable castle. The gaps between individual buildings were protected by the stone walls. In fact, it was a real medieval fortress. It was located at the crossroads of the most important roads and occupied a hill, which had a strategic position. Residents of Sharoy had an opportunity to control the road from Transcaucasia and Dagestan to the Argun Gorge, as well as to Cheberloy and Ich-keriya.
In ancient times, there was a residence of the ruler and the meeting place of the Council of Elders of Tukhum Sharoy.
Now there is only one of three battle towers, that survived until the beginning of the 20th century. Bruno Plechke, who was in these mountains in the 1920s, found two battle towers and several residential in relatively good condition. But residential towers were blown up in 1944, and one of the battle towers was destroyed during the bombing in 1995.
Confirmation that Himoy was a cult center can be served by an abundance of petro-glyphs on the surviving medieval buildings of the settlement. These are double spirals, crosses, and circles. But the most interesting is the classic swastika with rectangular ends. In this form, it is not found anywhere else in the Caucasus, although in various versions it is present on the walls of many Chechen towers, in more ancient times on Koban ceramics, then in the form of a mark on Alan pottery.
In the Middle Ages, almost all the villages of Sharoy were towers, i.e., they consisted of residential and battle towers. Many of them, especially battle towers, were destroyed during the Caucasian War, some during the eviction of Chechens in 1944.
Currently, there is a huge reconstruction of the tower complexes of the Sharoysky district.
Let's consider the objects of cultural heritage of the Sharoysky district in more detail. In accordance with the data of the State Unitary Enterprise "Argun State Historical, Architectural and Nature Museum-Reserve," there are fifty-six objects in the Sharoysky district: a total of 6 tower complexes, consisting of five battle towers, forty residential towers, one half-battle tower
and ten mosques.
The Sharoyskaya residential tower No. 1. It dates from the 14th-16th centuries. It is located on the residential outskirts of Sharoy village. It stands in a group of towers, on a rock base. The tower is oriented to cardinal directions with its walls. The tower is three-tiered. The walls have a slight slope up. The laying is made of different stones with the help of lime mortar. The tower has a shape of an unequal quadrilateral in plan. The thickness of the walls at the level of the second tier reaches more than half a meter. The construct of the entrance on the first tier is made in the form of a false entrance. The entrance to the tower is in the wall of the eastern facade on the second and third tiers. In the eastern and western walls there are fireplaces on the second tier. Chimneys in the form of round holes in the laying are also visible. The depth of the chimneys is 36-37 cm. Traces of soot are well preserved. The tower is interesting because of the presence of petroglyphs on the stone blocks. The tower is shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1 - The Sharoyskaya tower No. 1.
The Sharoyskaya residential tower No. 2. The Sharoyskaya residential tower is located in Sharoy village in the Sharoysky district. The residential tower is a part of the Sharoysky architectural complex and stands in its central part. It is built of well-worked stones with the help of lime mortar. The stones are carefully attached to each other. The building is constructed on a rock massif without a foundation. The tower is oriented to cardinal directions with its walls. The area of the tower is rectangular in plan: 5.5 x 10.20 m. The height of the preserved part is 5.30 m. The wall thickness at the base is 0.6 m. The tower is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2 - The Sharoyskaya tower No. 2.
The Sharoyskaya residential tower No. 3. The Sharoyskaya residential tower No. 3 is located in Sharoy village in the Sharoysky district and it is a part of the Sharoysky architectural complex. The tower is rectangular in plan, it is made of stones of various shapes with the help of lime mortar. The area of the tower is 11.80 x 9.70 m. The height of the remained part is 6.10 m, the laying thickness at the basis is 85 cm. The tower is oriented to cardinal directions with its walls. The southern wall was a facade. The tower stands on a slope, that is why its walls have different heights. The length of the northern wall is 11.80 m. The height of this wall is 5.10 m on the left side and 4.10 from the right corner. It has two window openings (60x35 cm) at an altitude of 3 meters from the base. The distance between the windows is 5 m. The right window is located at the distance of 3.15 m from the right corner, and the left window opening is 2.95 from the left corner. A crack passes under the left window opening to the base. The northern wall is covered with a layer of plaster of white color. The length of the eastern wall is 9.70 m, the height of the right corner is 6.10. In the center of the wall the height is 4.65 m. At the distance of 8 meters from the left corner, the height is 4.50 m. The walls on the left side are completely destroyed. Only the element of the wall at the level of 0.40 m from the base has been preserved. The southern and western sides of the tower are completely destroyed. This is an example of a residential tower as a part of a well-fortified complex of the Middle Ages. The text of interwoven ornament on the wall may indicate that the tower belonged to Mullah, Figure 3.
Figure 3 - The residential tower No. 3.
Archaeologist M.B. Muzhukhoev considered that residential towers appeared in this territory in the 12th-13th centuries. And the heyday of building dates back to the 17th century [3].
Next, let's consider the survived battle towers.
According to the researchers, the exact dating of the Vainakh battle towers is still an unresolved historical problem [4].
The battle tower is located in the complex of residential towers with dense development. The tower is oriented to cardinal directions with its walls. The tower is rectangular, two-tier in plan. The height of the tower is about 8 meters, the thickness of the walls is about 1 meter. In the walls there are shot holes. On the western wall there is a petroglyph with a stylized image of a person, Figure 4.
Figure 4 - The battle tower
In the village of Sharoy there is one more battle tower, it is located on the eastern outskirts of the tower complex. It stands on a relief with a decrease from the north to the south. The tower is five-tier. The walls have a slope to the top. The tower is rectangular in shape, measuring 4.6 m * 4.6 m. The thickness of the walls is more than 60 cm. At the level of the fourth tier, a small window opening is made with a lintel of two stone slabs forming an arch. To the right of the window opening there is a petroglyph with an image of a solar sign and an ornament, Figure 5.
Figure 5 - The battle five-tier tower
In the territory of the tower complex there is also a mosque, which was built no more than 200 years ago, Figure 6. The architecture of the mosque makes it possible to claim that it dates back to the 18th-19th centuries. The mosque is located in the eastern part of the hill, on which the village of Sharoy is located. The mosque building is one-story. It is built of small
stones with the help of lime mortar. The thickness of the walls is about 70 cm. Traces of plaster are visible. At the end of the southern wall from the east there is a slab with a text made with an Arabic interwoven ornament. From the inside, the mosque is quite large in area [3].
Figure 6 - The mosque
Thus, the village of Sharoy is a unique monument of medieval culture. Now there is a large-scale reconstruction of the tower complex, which will definitely become an object of tourist interest. But even now the village of Sharoy is interesting for tourists who want to get acquainted with history and culture of our region. Speaking about culture of our ancestors, one cannot but talk about the close connection of Dzhigits with the horse.
People have moved on foot for a long time. Subsequently, animals began to be used as means of transportation: horses, deer, mules, yaks, bulls, dogs, camels, donkeys.
For our ancestors for many centuries, the main transport was a horse. It was used both for riding, and as a baggage animal, and in a harness. When riding, the speed of the horse at a slow pace is about 6 km/h, and the speed at a quick pace is 12 km/h. The average speed of a caravan on a good road is up to 4 km/h, on bad roads the speed falls to 2 km/h. The load that a horse can carry depends on its weight, but on average with a good road it is 100-20 kg.
In the Caucasus and Central Asia, beautiful mount and baggage animals (mules) are specially bred. It's a hybrid between the donkey and the mare. The mule is very unpretentious, it can be used even in the mountains. It can carry more than a horse, an average of 120 kg, but moves slower: at a quick pace to 10 km/h. Less common is a hybrid between the stallion and the donkey (a hinny). Although they are weaker than mules, they are also hardy and undemanding. Yaks (sarliks) are often used to transport goods in Tibet and Pamir. They pass in the mountains 3 km in an hour with a load of up to 90 kg. In Buryatia, not yaks themselves are used, but a hybrid between yaks and cows (khainags). In desert areas, camels are used to transport goods. In sandy deserts, these animals can compete with a car. In the south of Central Asia, mostly one-humped camels are bred, in Kazakhstan and in the north of Central Asia double-humped camels are bred. The hybrid between these two species is widespread: "iner" in Turkmen, "nar" in Kazakh. These animals are much more resilient and more hardworking than their parents. The average camel can easily carry 200 kg, the good one can carry 300 kg, and the best camels can carry up to 500 kg. Camels are driven by caravans. The average speed of the caravan is up to 5 km/h on hard ground, up to 4 km/h on overgrown sand, up to 2 km/h on loose sand. On average, a caravan can walk 20-30 km per day. However, a camel with a rider and a small load is able to walk much faster. It is also known that
camels are undemanding of water. In spring, when there is juicy pasture, a working camel can be given water once every 2-3 days, and if the camel does not work, then less often. In summer, it is advisable to give water to an animal daily, although it can do without water for two days. The best age of a working camel is from 6 to 12 years, with good care, it works up to 25 years; it can also serve as draft animals: two camels are usually harnessed into an araba (cart).
In Central Asia, donkeys are used for movement. They are more unpretentious in food and drink and hardier than horses: a donkey can carry a load of more than 70 kg, and with a rider it often carries 10-15 kg. Donkeys are used for work from the age of 3, but they reach full strength by the age of 5. The speed of movement of baggage donkeys is 4-5 km/h, they can go 20-25 km per day, a good mount donkey can go up to 70 km per day. They are also used in harness, but less often [5].
Thus, the use of animals for human needs has been going on for a long time. Nowadays, animals are actively used in organizing tourist activities, since, hikes using animals give much more vivid impressions to modern tourists, that is very relevant in the era of the economy of sensations.
Currently, equestrian tourism is very promising. Equestrian tourism is a temporary travel outside the usual place of residence using horses as a means of movement. Horse riding routes run along any roads, forest and mountain trails, while sport routes and routes without roads run along a previously planned route. Mainly horse routes run along mountain trails, along steppes, along the banks of rivers and lakes.
Equestrian tourism in the North Caucasus has great prospects for development. Private stables began to appear, offering a wide range of services, schools, horse riding clubs that actively cooperate with travel agencies. But for the prosperity of this type of tourism on the Caucasian land, it is necessary to pay great attention to the material and technical base for equestrian tourism, to begin developing routes for outdoor enthusiasts, and to train staff in all mandatory requirements when working with horses.
In the Sharoysky district of the Chechen Republic, the development of equestrian tourism is promising. The use of horses in tourist services is predetermined by the rich ethnographic potential of the Chechen Republic, associated with the centuries-old history of Vainakhs. In the Chechen Republic, horse riding trips have not gained great popularity yet, and developed routes for this type of trips are not enough. Therefore, the concept of the equestrian hiking "Journey to History" based on the resources of the Sharoysky district is relevant. Horse walks and trips along the Sharo-Argun Gorge will not leave a single person indifferent, since it is the Chechen Republic that is famous for its unique natural and cultural and historical potentials.
Equestrian tourism in the North Caucasus has a powerful development potential. This is facilitated by the unique natural conditions of the region: relief, climate, vegetation, water bodies, picturesque landscapes and natural monuments. Equestrian tourism is a category of ecological tourism that does not disturb the natural balance.
The Sharoysky district of the Chechen Republic may have a great future in the field of tourism development, since this is one of the mountainous regions of the Republic. It is necessary to develop active types of recreation combined with enlightening travel in this district, because the Sharoysky tower complex is a unique historical and cultural object that needs to be made an object of tourist interest.
ISSN 2414-1143
Научный альманах стран Причерноморья. 2020. Том 24. № 4 Литература
1. Федеральный закон от 24.11.1996 № 132-ФЗ «Об основах туристской деятельности в Российской Федерации» [Электронный ресурс]. КонсультантПлюс. URL: http://base.consultant.ru/cons/
2. ГОСТ Р 53522-2009 Туристские и экскурсионные услуги. Основные положения / Федеральное Агентство по техническому регулированию и метрологии. М.: Стан-дартинформ, 2010. 24 с.
3. Боярский П.В. Верховая езда. М.: Профиздат, 1998. 250 с.
4. Гольдштейн А.Ф. Средневековое зодчество Чечено-Ингушетии и Северной Осетии. М.: Наука, 1975.
5. Филлис Д. Основы выездки и езды. М: Центрполиграф, 2011. 380 с.
References
1. Federalnyi zakon ot 24.11.1996 № 132-FZ "Ob osnovakh turistskoi deiatelnosti v Ros-siiskoi Federatsii" [Federal Law of 24.11.1996 No. 132-Federal Law "On the Basics of Tourism Activities in the Russian Federation"] KonsultantPlus. Available at: http://base.consultant.ru/cons/
2. GOST R 53522-2009 Turistskie i ekskursionnye uslugi. Osnovnye polozheniia. Feder-alnoe Agentstvo po tekhnicheskomu regulirovaniiu i metrologii [GOST R 53522-2009 Tourist and excursion services. Fundamental principles. Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology]. Moscow. Standartinform, 2010. 24 p. (in Russian).
3. Boyarsky P.V. Verkhovaia ezda [Horse riding]. Moscow: Profizdat, 1998. 250 p. (in Russian).
4. Goldstein A.F. Srednevekovoe zodchestvo Checheno-Ingushetii i Severnoi Osetii [Medieval architectonics of Chechen-Ingushetia and North Ossetia]. Moscow: Science, 1975 (in Russian).
5. Phyllis D. Osnovy vyezdki i ezdy [Basics of dressage and riding]. Moscow. Tsen-trpoligraf, 2011. 380 p. (in Russian).
15 September, 2020
