Things to see

Ushkaloi Twin Towers of the 11th-12th Centuries

Ushkaloi Twin Towers of the 11th-12th Centuries

The towers built into the rock recess are located in the area between the villages of Guchum-Kale and Ushkaloi of Itum-Kali district on the right Bank of the Chanti-Argun River. The towers are four-storeyed, about 12 meters high.

Not far from the towers is the Grozny — Itum-Kale road. The tower is separated from the road by a powerful stream of the Chanti-Argun River. This is one of the narrowest points of the road-the gorge (37 meters).

Towers of peculiar architecture, have three walls, the fourth wall is a rock. They are made of well-treated stones with lime mortar. The roof of the towers is a stone peak of the rock.

Towers built into rock niches are typologically related to the oldest type of buildings. In mountainous Chechnya, such buildings were located in rock massifs, on steep rocky river banks, sometimes at a very high altitude. Crevices in the rocks or mountain caves were laid on the outside with stones, arranging door and window openings, loopholes and viewing slits-as in an ordinary tower.

Ostalowska the tower is located under a huge canopy of the Rocky Mountains Celine Lam. Near the base of another tower, destroyed in 1944.

The tower is considered a watchtower. This is confirmed by the fact that in former times the road in this place ran along the right bank of the river, and not on the left as now. Not far from the tower was a stone arched bridge. The guards who were in the tower controlled the road and the bridge. Currently, only elements of the bridge remain.

In 2011, after restoration work, the towers were restored.