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Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent

Russian Federation
Date of Inscription: 2003
Criteria: (iii)(iv)
Core zone: 9.7 ha
Buffer zone: 2 ha
Dagestan, Eastern Caucasus, Western coast of Caspian Sea
N42 03 10.7 E48 17 49.9
Ref: 1070

Brief Description

The Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent were part of the northern lines of the Sasanian Persian Empire, which extended east and west of the Caspian Sea. The fortification was built in stone. It consisted of two parallel walls that formed a barrier from the seashore up to the mountain. The town of Derbent was built between these two walls, and has retained part of its medieval fabric. The site continued to be of great strategic importance until the 19th century.

Justification for Inscription

Criterion iii: The site of the ancient city of Derbent has been crucial for the control of the north-south passage on the west side of the Caspian Sea since the 1st millennium BCE. The defence structures that were built by the Sasanians in the 5th century CE were in continuous use by the succeeding Persian, Arabic, Mongol, and Timurid governments for some 15 centuries. Criterion iv: The ancient city of Derbent and its defence structures are the most significant section of the strategic defence systems designed and built in the Sasanian empire along their northern limes, and maintained during the successive governments until the Russian occupation in the 19th century.