Derbent Canyon

Derbent Canyon is a spectacular natural landmark in the southwestern part of the Gissar Mountains, located north of the village of Derbent. This is a grand gorge with a length of 8 kilometers with steep cliffs up to 400 meters high, where the last two kilometers of the road are almost trapped by stone walls, and sunlight reaches the bottom only at noon.

The name of the village of Derbent, which stands in front of the canyon, translates as "closed gate", "narrow passage", and this is not for nothing – the only convenient trade route from Samarkand and Bukhara to Termez, and further to the Pamirs and India, has long passed through these places. But this is due to another canyon located to the west of the village. An outpost with a fortress was set up at the entrance to that canyon, and all the caravans of the Silk Road paid for passage. Travelers and merchants from India, China, Persia, and even Spain passed through these places, and everyone knew this place as the "Iron Gate."

And the Derbent Canyon is much more massive than the "Iron Gates" and leads deep into the Hissar Mountains, into the valley of the Machaidarya River, which formed this canyon over millions of years. There is a spring with unusual water in the canyon and the grave of Saint Khuzhamoy-ota, to which local residents make a pilgrimage. Then there are several colorful settlements, several more canyons that can only be walked through, and on the slope of one mountain there is the Teshik-Tash grotto, a famous monument of anthropology in which the burial of a Neanderthal child was discovered.

You can get to Derbent Canyon by car, as there is a good paved road leading to it. The road from Baysun is 30 km, and the way from Termez is 130 km. Also, Derbent Canyon is located quite close to the Bukhara-Termez highway, and a visit to this natural attraction is easy to include in the itinerary of a trip between central and southern Uzbekistan.