Arkhyz
Arkhyz is a village in the Karachay-Cermkessia region of Russia, in the North Caucasus. It sits in a mountain valley by the Bolshoy Zelenchuk River, about 70 kilometers from the Black Sea. The village was founded in 1923 near where the Arkhyz and Pshish rivers meet. It’s located at about 1,450 meters above sea level, with surrounding mountains rising over 3,000 meters.
The population was 505 people in 2010 and about 849 in 2021. Arkhyz is part of Zelenchuksky District and the Arkhyz Rural Settlement.
Nearby is the Zelenchuksky archaeological site, a four-kilometer area around the ruins of Nizhny Arkhyz, believed to be the medieval capital of Alania. The site has three early medieval churches linked to the spread of Christianity in the Northern Caucasus. The North Zelenchuksky Church likely served as Alania’s cathedral from the 10th to the 13th centuries, and its dome is about 21 meters high. The Central Church is an older cross-shaped building, and the South Church is the oldest functioning church in Russia, rebuilt in 1899 and reconsecrated to St. Elijah in 1991. A monastic community later revived there after the Soviet era.
About 30 kilometers from Arkhyz, a Greek-script inscription was found. It’s thought to be the oldest text in the Ossetic language, dating to around 941 or 963. There is also a 10th-century rock painting of Christ found in the area.
Arkhyz is also known for a Soviet astrophysical observatory that once housed the world’s largest solid-mirror telescope, a 6-meter instrument.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 07:25 (CET).