A unique underground reservoir of the 10th century was restored in Derbent

The restoration of a unique underground reservoir of the 10th century has been completed in Derbent, Dagestan. Thousands of tourists will be able to visit it this summer.

For many years, the reservoir has been hidden from prying eyes, and it has even been virtually forgotten about. The renovators began their work by clearing entrances, removing long-term deposits, strengthening masonry, and also engaged in the restoration of drainage channels and manually pumped out large volumes of water. According to restorer Raimbek Rustamov, the water reached a height of 5.5 m.

Hidden under the rocks, at a depth of several meters, is one of the oldest engineering systems in Russia. The reservoir itself was built when Derbent was in dire need of a reliable source of fresh water.

"Its dimensions are about 17.5 m long, 7.5 [m] wide and 10.5 [m] high. This is 1.5 thousand cubic meters approximately. That was enough in case of a siege for a whole year. It was possible to defend oneself for a long time without food, but not without water. Therefore, each ruler had to deal with the issue of water supply," said historian Veli Yusufov.

Izvestia correspondent Daniyal Isaev compared the reservoir to the Basilica Cistern in Istanbul. Unlike the Byzantine building, it is also not decorated with columns. According to him, the underground water storage held 300 thousand liters of water, which was enough for the entire ancient city during the period of drought and wars.

It is noted that such underground reservoirs served as the main water supply system of the city, since the nearest river flows at a distance of 15 km. The springs in the mountains served as the only source of water for the locals.

In addition, local guides have already begun to include the Derbent reservoir in their tours. While the building is closed, the hour of the tour will be the story at its entrance. Some, in turn, were able to go down inside even before the official opening of the reservoir.

"When you go down, you don't expect such a scale, the opening of space, such air, volume. You feel like you're in space, I don't know how," tourist Ksenia Oserdtsova shared her impressions.

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