The village of Khanaz and the Fregat tower are located in North Ossetia at an altitude of about 2000 meters. It is very beautiful, but people no longer live here. Khanaz is now a ghost village; previously, at the end of the 19th century, the village had a population of about 3,000 people. The village is left with ruins of houses, necropolises, and most importantly—the Fregat tower. The tower externally resembles a ship. Hence the name – Fregat (Frigate). The height of the tower is 13–19 meters (4-6 floors). And this was built without cranes or construction machinery. The castle has a basement room and underground passages.
The Fregat tower was erected approximately in the 14th–16th centuries at an altitude of about 2,000 meters. The auls of Ossetia are filled with remarkable structures, but there is no equivalent to this anywhere else in the world.
First of all, the shape of the Fregat tower is striking – it really looks like a huge, ancient ship that once wrecked and ran aground. But despite the disaster that befell it, the motionless vessel still amazes the casual viewer with its grandeur and unusual forms.
What the Fregat tower was built for can only be guessed. Most likely, its purpose was related to military-defense goals – as evidenced by numerous loopholes. In the northern wing, there is a peculiar stone sack – a damp and dark basement where enemy prisoners were kept. Later, small residential buildings grew up next to the castle. The more modern materials and seams indicate that these are later constructions.
Inside the ancient tower, a traveler is involuntarily seized by reverent awe – the energy of this sacred place is simply incredible. Looking up, gaze into the azure Ossetian sky: it is like the water from the timbering of a bottomless well, calmly and thoughtfully watching the traveler.
All the family towers in Ossetia combined do not create as much excitement around themselves as the Fregat castle. This happens not only because of its unusual shape, unique beauty, and obvious mystery of the structure, but also because the right to own it has long been disputed between the local clans Tsallaevs and Fatzaevs. It is unknown how this bloodless war will end, but it is rumored that the spirit of the true owner haunts the crumbling walls of the castle.
His name is Man-sau. According to legend, this man was the only male survivor in the aul after bloody battles. It was Man-sau who built the Fregat tower here, which still amazes the descendants of the cruel Ossetian. Why cruel? The legend says that the man did not hesitate to steal the children of his tribesmen and sell them into slavery to the Turks. And the shape of the castle is meant to remind Man-sau of the frigates on which the living cargo was taken away.
By the way, many are curious about what towers are called in Ossetia. Castles are locally called “galuan.” Even one of the local villages is named this way.
Not far from the beautiful stone frigate, cutting through the air waves for centuries, are two crypts called “dzappadz.” The burial structures are made in an orthodox style – especially notable is a characteristic detail of many local necropolises – the stepped roof.
Also nearby is the tsyrt – a stone stele with images of the deceased’s portrait, his life priorities, decorated with traditional ornaments and texts. These ancient monuments reveal the cultural secrets of the Ossetians and the mysteries of their beliefs.
Sources:
https://club-voshod.com/info/pohodnoe_info/dostoprimechatelnosti/severnaya_osetiya/bashnya_fregat/
