Erzi Tower Complex is the main attraction of the valley of the Armkha River, one of the largest castle-type tower complexes in the region at the tip of the mountain range. Located in Jairach district.
The Erzi tower complex includes 8 combat, 2 semi-combat, 47 residential towers with various annexes, several different sanctuaries and burial grounds and a long stone defensive wall with wide gates of the late Middle Ages. Most of the battle towers were restored in 2015. Most of them are five-storey (only one of them is six floors). On the first floors of these towers, you can observe large stone cone-shaped "bags" - compartments (from 1 to 6) for storing agricultural supplies and keeping prisoners, and in the walls of the remaining floors (except the upper ones) - numerous narrow loopholes for firefighting, defensive niches, rare small vaulted window openings. The entrance vaulted opening at each tower is located at the level of the 2nd floor. Radiocarbon dating of one of them showed 1683-1723 years of construction.
Residential towers of Erzi complex were 2-4-storey. Some of them had loggia. On their walls preserved petroglyphs and tamga-shaped signs: crosses, spirals, circles, tridents, etc. Near the towers you can see several crypt burial grounds XIII-XVIII centuries. Of particular interest is the core-shaped mausoleum of the XVIII century Yand-Kash (Grave of Yand), which was built over the grave of the famous local architect named Yand, the ancestor of the Yandiev family. There are several legends and legends about Yand. In 2019, the mausoleum was restored. Above the slope you can see the ruins of a small temple-sanctuary of Erdzeli, erected by Yand in the second half of the XVIII century. In the hiding places of the sanctuary, archaeologists discovered three large iron crosses.
The largest relic of Erdzeli is a unique cast bronze eagle statuette made in the VIII century in Iraq. The figure height of 38 cm in the 1930s was taken by the Caucasian scholar Nikolai Yakovlev to St. Petersburg, now it is exhibited in the State Hermitage. An exact copy of the statuette is kept in the State Museum of the Republic of Ingushetia in Nazran.
East of Erzi, near the road to the village of Kerbite are two pillar-shaped sanctuaries. According to legends, the sanctuaries were solemnly erected in the XVIII century.
Erzi Tower Complex is part of the Dzhirakh-Assin State Historical, Architectural and Natural Museum-Reserve and is an identified object of cultural heritage protected by the state.
On October 22, the Head of the Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites, Kodzoev Timerlan Umarovich, and the Acting Director of the Dzhayrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve, Akhmetkhan Sampiev, took part in an expanded meeting on issues of state protection of cultural heritage sites.
The meeting was held in Derbent, Republic of Dagestan.
Participants in the first International Russian-Georgian Youth Forum, which is currently taking place in Ingushetia, visited the ancient temple of Thaba-Yarda, a unique architectural monument with a history dating back more than a thousand years. This temple is a symbol of the deep historical and spiritual ties between the peoples of the Caucasus.
The event was organized with the aim of strengthening humanitarian ties and youth cooperation, promoting cultural dialogue between Russia and Georgia, exchanging experiences, and strengthening friendly ties between the youth of the two countries. It was attended by leaders of relevant organizations, more than a hundred businesspeople, students, political scientists, and bloggers from Georgia, Ingushetia, Dagestan, Stavropol, Kabardino-Balkaria, Moscow, Volgograd and Rostov regions, and Krasnodar Territory.
A five-ruble banknote issued in 1909 was found in the masonry of one of the towers of the Lyalakh complex by contractor Nurdin Kodzoev. He reported this to Zyaudin Gurazhev, an employee of the museum-reserve, while the latter was conducting an inspection tour of the complex.
This find is very important for studying and recreating the historical appearance of this site and will soon be transferred to the T. Malsagov Ingush State Museum of Local History.
Early Muslim mosques in mountainous Ingushetia are of considerable importance for the history and culture of the region, therefore our institution is actively working on their accounting, inventory and inclusion in the register of identified objects of cultural heritage.
About how Islam penetrated into Ingushetia was mentioned for the first time in history in the eighties of the 16th century. The Georgian Tsarevich Vakhushti Bagrationi in his book "Geography of Georgia", written on the basis of data collected at the end of the seventeenth century, clearly refers the inhabitants of the village of Angusht to Muslims, and even to Sunnis.
In the seventies and nineties of the eighteenth century, male and female Muslim names prevailed in Ingushetia. There were even recorded facts that both individual inhabitants of Ingushetia and entire groups of Ingushetia accepted Islam.
Pyotr Pallas wrote about the fact that the ancestors of the Ingush preferred Islam even at the end of the eighteenth century. Archaeologist Chakhkiev presented data from which it follows that a number of burials dating back to the end of the eighteenth century were discovered on the territory of Ingushetia in its mountainous regions. These burials have all the signs of burials performed according to the rules of Muslim funeral rites, characteristic of Islam.
The process of Islamization of the people of Ingushetia took place in several stages and was complex, affecting all spheres of life, and ended only after such a person as teacher Kunta-Khadji Kishiev appeared on the political arena, who led active propaganda of Islam among the Ingush.
As it was said earlier, as a result of the field work carried out by the museum-reserve staff, early Muslim mosques were revealed on the territory of the tower complexes Egikal, Khamhi, Falkhan, Lyalakh, Verkhniy Pyaling, Nizhniy Kyahk, Tsori, Gershki, Garakh, Kerbi, etc. The locations of these objects were determined, measurements and photofixation were made. The technical condition of some of them is extremely ruined, there are ruined buildings with the preservation of the foundation, and also partially destroyed with the possibility of full restoration.
These ancient mosques were destroyed during the emigration of our people to Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Until 1944 in them they performed namaz, markhi - 1id, g1urban - 1id and ruzba our fathers-mountaineers.
With joint efforts, it is important for us to preserve these Islamic shrines, because these are not only monuments of archeology and architecture, but also the history of our nation and our religion.
Inspection trip to the hard-to-reach, rarely visited medieval tower complex “ Tsoli,” located 1.4 km northwest of Gappi on a mountain slope.
A permit from the Border Guard Service of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation in the Republic of Ingushetia is required to visit the complex, as it is located in a closed border zone.
The purpose of the visit to the complex is to visually inspect the technical condition of cultural heritage sites with photographic documentation, as well as to identify and record previously unrecorded architectural monuments.
Employees of the museum-reserve held a community work day on the territory of the Targim complex, on the banks of the Assa River.
The participants cleaned up the territory of the complex, collected trash, and took it to a specially designated place.
Acting Director of the institution Ahmedkhan Sampiev and Head of the Department for the Preservation of Monuments Zyaudin Gurazhev urge vacationers to treat the cultural and historical heritage with care and to maintain cleanliness and order in the reserve area.
Another unrecorded site near Verkhniy Puy, presumably a river mill, was recently discovered by employees of the museum-reserve.
Previously, river mills were discovered at the tower complexes of Tumga, Furtoug, Myashkhi, Naikiste, Sredny Ozdik, etc.
As a rule, they were located along the riverbeds, built using dry masonry, and are of great interest from the point of view of science, history, and culture of the region.
During an inspection trip to the Tsooli tower complex on November 10, employees of the museum-reserve discovered one previously unrecorded semi-military tower, three residential towers, one crypt burial ground, and several outbuildings.
The Tsol tower complex is included in the register of identified cultural heritage sites of the republic. Previously, one semi-military and five residential towers, four crypts, and ruins had been identified there.
Currently, the complex has 2 semi-military and 8 residential towers, 5 crypt burial grounds, and farm buildings in various states of preservation.
Bone material has been preserved in the burial structures. Soviet and Russian historian and archaeologist D.Y. Chakhkiev dates them to the 16th-17th centuries, but, according to him, they have not been subjected to archaeological excavations.
In one of the residential towers of the complex, an interesting stone “bag” was found, which was intended for storing supplies or water.
“Tsooli” is a hard-to-reach, rarely visited complex located 1.4 km northwest of “G1appi” on a high mountain slope in a closed border zone, which requires a special permit to visit.
This trip is of particular historical significance for our institution, as it is the first visit to this complex in more than ten years.
Previously unaccounted objects that are not included in the register will be included in the list of identified cultural heritage sites of the Republic of Ingushetia.
During excavations at the Gerite tower complex, employees of the Heritage School of Bricklayers and Restorers found two ancient women's headdresses, known as kurkharss, in one of the above-ground sun graves.
A kurkhar (kurhas) is an original traditional Ingush women's headdress. It is known in the Caucasus only in Ingushetia. Kurkhar were an attribute of the formal, festive clothing of Ingush girls and were worn during holidays and when going out in public. This headdress was a very expensive element of the costume, costing between 5 and 15 cows. Kurkharss were made of red felt or thick cloth and were tall caps in the shape of a skate with a curved forward and forked end called a “crest.”
The burial inventory found is of great scientific interest and will be studied and described in detail in the future.
On November 27, 2025, the head of the State Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites, T. U. Kodzoev, and the acting director of the State Cultural Institution “Djeirah-Assinsky Museum-Reserve,” A.A. Sampiev, took part in an event marking the completion of restoration work on the Keli tower complex, during which the historical ensemble, consisting of one combat tower and four residential towers, was restored.
The work was carried out by highly qualified specialists in accordance with the design and estimate documentation approved by the Government of the Republic of Ingushetia with the financial support of the SAFMAR and Vozrozhdenie charitable foundations.
Earlier, as part of the work plan to supervise the restoration, conservation, and emergency repair work aimed at preserving the historical and architectural sites of mountainous Ingushetia, the heads of the relevant organizations conducted inspection tours of the complex, which revealed no violations—all work was carried out in accordance with established norms and standards.
During routine work to identify and record previously unrecorded architectural monuments, employees of the Dzhayrakh-Assinsky Museum-Reserve discovered a previously unrecorded structure, presumably a temple-sanctuary, on the territory of the Koal tower complex located on the spur of Mount Tsey-Loam, 800 m above the Gerite complex, an unrecorded building, presumably a temple-sanctuary, was discovered.
The identified building is located in the western part of the complex, on a gentle mountain slope. It is in ruins, with only part of the southern wall preserved to a height of 1 meter. Archaeological work is needed to obtain more detailed information.
There is also a natural spring on the territory of the complex, which was improved in the fall of 2024 by people from this complex.
