And in the evening, in a special house for general meetings, Art Khuron (translated from Ossetian as “Circle of the Sun”), guests will be taught national songs and dances, as well as interesting but forgotten children’s games that were played by the little highlanders 300 years ago. , when there were no computers or internet.
Yes, tourists pay money to be forced to work. The main goal of this unusual project is to allow people to take a break from the bustle of the city, feel true unity with nature, join rural life and, most importantly, bring all family members closer together. Including giving parents the opportunity to communicate more with their children. To this end, the chalets in which guests will stay are built according to the studio principle, without isolated rooms. The living room, kitchen, bedroom and fireplace are located in different parts of a single large space, where all people are visible.
The project was called “Ossetian Land Park”. The park is located on an area of 20 hectares in a picturesque corner of the Alagirsky district, from which stunning views of the Caucasus mountain range and Mount Kazbek are offered. In addition to the first chalet-style guest house and the Art Khuron social area, a shopping center, a pavilion and a tasting room were also built here, as well as a mini farm, where each calf has a separate “house”.
Although the park’s opening is preliminary, there is still much to do. However, the first tourists who want to spend a week in an unusual town have already arrived and will soon move there. The head of North Ossetia, Sergei Menyailo, also visited the place. Together with the investor of the project, director of the agro-industrial holding “Master-Prime. Berezka”, Larisa Bekuzarova, he toured the territory of the village, where tourists can join rural life, learn how to milk cows, make cheese and Ossetian baking. cakes.
“The peculiarity of this place is that here you can do everything with your own hands,” said Sergei Menyailo. – For someone, milking a cow, making cheese, baking pies is a new and unusual experience. For those who live in big cities, believe me, this is exclusive. Therefore, here we must focus on the national, on what tourists can only see here. The project is good and no one doubts that it will be implemented. The agricultural village is created at the expense of the investor. We support him by renting land and plan to provide him with additional assistance next year.
The head of North Ossetia stressed that tourism throughout the republic is developing rapidly and new unusual projects are emerging in this area. The park “Ossetia Land” is one of them.
“Our task is not only to increase the flow of tourists to the republic, but also to rationalize it and offer guests as many types of recreation as possible: skiing, sanatoriums and resorts, cultural and historical tourism, agrotourism,” said Sergei Menyailo. – It is important to reveal our potential and create conditions so that guests feel the uniqueness of the republic. We can take it to you with our exclusivity!
After speaking with an RG correspondent, the general director of the agro-industrial holding, Larisa Bekuzarova, admitted that the first time it was not possible to implement the project: it was prevented by the anti-Russian economic sanctions of the European Union. But the park was created anyway.
– Initially, I planned to open a robotic dairy farm on this land, where human participation would be minimal, and next to it, an agro-eco-village, where tourists could take master classes on baking pies and making cheese, and the children Those who grew up in the city realized that milk does not grow on trees,” says Larisa Bekuzarova. – And now, when we paid several tens of millions of rubles to a Dutch company for the supply of equipment for a robotic farm, I was informed that Western “partners” could not supply it: the EU had imposed sanctions! Well, we forced them to return the money… And then, since it still didn’t work out with the robotic farm, I decided to immediately implement the second part of the plan: build an agroecovillage. But anyway we will open a robotic farm with partners from Asia.
Telling this, Larisa Bekuzarova shows us the first chalet for tourists already built. Five more of the same are planned to be installed in the near future. The house is entirely made of wood, with a wood stove area, kitchen and bedroom. Additionally, guests can relax on the bunk beds. The format of the studio was not chosen by chance: in a single space family members will communicate more, united by common work and leisure.
Businesswoman Larisa Bekuzarova, famous in North Ossetia, decided to create a non-standard tourist site where guests could fully immerse themselves in rural life. Photo: Vladimir Anosov/RG
And next to the chalet, on several hectares of land, there is a lavender field. Walking among the bushes of this unique plant, you can enjoy its smell and take some branches with you as a souvenir.
The center of the agroecovillage is the “Sunny Circle” – Art Khuron, where a program of Ossetian evenings has been developed for guests, including not only an introduction to folklore, but also ceremonial holidays in the national style.
“My goal is to make people smile,” says Larisa Bekuzarova. – I want other regions to know my republic and its traditions and come to Ossetia again and again. Not because someone demands it, but because you want it.
A comment
Agvan Mikaelyan, member of the board of directors of the audit and consulting network “FinExpertiza”:
– In the regions of the North Caucasus there is no heavy industry, but these are territories with enormous tourism potential that is currently developing rapidly. It takes time to develop existing recreational reserves. And this is an extremely difficult task. However, it is clear that there are great advances. I will cite Turkey as an example to follow. Probably few people remember the tourist areas of this country in the 90s. At that time, driving through the main tourist spots, you felt as if you were literally walking through a garbage dump. And only when you arrived at the hotel did you feel civilization and comfort. But the hotels were a kind of separate oasis, surrounded by walls with barbed wire. 30 years have passed during which the Turkish authorities have invested a lot of money in their country’s tourism infrastructure. And now none of the tourists who travel to Turkey have that feeling of being in a garbage dump. Vice versa. The same is now the case with the resorts of the North Caucasus. But they are just the beginning of a long journey and have been actively developing over the past two years. Another 20 years at the same pace and we won’t recognize them.
