Nizhne-Arkhyz settlement The Nizhne-Arkhyz settlement stretches for four and a half kilo

Nizhne-Arkhyz settlement

The Nizhne-Arkhyz settlement stretches for four and a half kilometers; streets and lanes, ruins of temples, residential buildings and outbuildings, burial grounds and even pre-Christian sanctuaries are clearly distinguished here. From a bird's eye view, you can see a circle made of boulders, the inner diameter of which is about 90 meters, the width of the walls is up to two meters.

Experts believe that the Caucasian Stonehenge is a solar calendar, a kind of observatory of the 11th – 12th centuries. It is curious that stone slabs with grooves carved on them, otherwise called "cup" ones, resemble in their configuration the outlines of the constellation Pisces

In May 1999, not far from the temple complex, during a routine excursion, one of the museum employees discovered the face of Christ on a rock. Presumably, the image is over 1000 years old. A skilled artist, only emphasizing the shades and tones of ocher sandstone, created the image of the son of the Lord. The portrait was prompted by nature, many are sure (a crack in the rock resembles a trace of a crown of thorns). Today you can climb here by specially constructed steps - there are more than 500 of them.