Daryal

the Caucasus in modern day Georgia near the border
with Russia . It is at the east base
of Mount Kazbek , pierced by the river Terek for a distance of 8 meters between vertical walls of rock (1800 meters/5900 feet). It is mentioned in the
Georgian annals under the names of Ralani, Dargani,
Darialani; the Persian s and Arabs knew it as the Gate of the
Alans ; Strabo calls it Porta Caucasica and Porta Cumana;
Ptolemy , Fortes Sarmatica; it was sometimes known as Portae
Caspiae (a name bestowed also on the "gate" or pass beside
the Caspian Sea at Derbent ); and the Tatars call it Darioly. It has also been referred to as the Iberian Gates.
Being the only available passage across the Caucasus, it has
been long fortified -- at least since 150 B.C.
In Russian poetry it has been immortalized by Lermontov in the poem '' The Demon (poem) ''. The
Russian fort, Darial, which guarded this section of
the Georgian Military Road , is at the northern end of the
gorge, at an altitude of 1447 meters (4746 feet).

REFERENCES

http://www.bartleby.com/65/da/Daryal.html

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Daryal