Painting by Aivazovsky “Aul Gunib in Dagestan View from the east side”


This picture of Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky was written in 1869. The work is done with oil on canvas. The work is in the State Russian Museum.
Mount Gunib is a natural fortress. Rising above the surrounding gorges by 200-400 meters, it has for most of the perimeter almost vertical slopes in its upper part. Stretching from east to west for 8 kilometers and from north to south to 3 kilometers, it significantly narrows and falls to the eastern part. The top of the mountain is a longitudinal hollow along which a stream flows, in the eastern part of the plateau, falling down to the Karakoi river, several waterfalls from a height of tens of meters. During the Caucasian War in the valley on top of the mountain there were small fields, meadows and groves, including birch, which is rare for the Caucasus.
The village Gunib, where Shamil settled, was located in the easternmost extremity of the mountain. The only way to the village and to the top of the plateau is a steep path, rising from Karakoysu along the creek to the easternmost sloping part of the mountain.
Although Mount Gunib was a serious natural fortification, its inaccessibility should not be overestimated in the conditions prevailing by August 1859. If Shamil had several thousand soldiers and several months to strengthen his position, he might have been able to turn Gunib into a truly impregnable stronghold. But he had neither one nor the other. Nevertheless, the defenders of Hunib fortified the most convenient for lifting areas of the mountain with blockages from logs, prepared piles of stones at the edges of the plateau, which they were about to bring down on the assault, and put sentries along the entire perimeter to prevent an unexpected attack.


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Painting by Aivazovsky “Aul Gunib in Dagestan View from the east side”