Georgian Military Road

The 208 kilometers long Georgian Military Road runs between Tbilisi (Georgia) and Vladikavkaz (Russia) and follows the traditional route used by invaders and traders throughout the ages.

Known since antiquity (it was mentioned by Strabo in his Geographica and by Pliny, the Georgian Military Road in its present form was begun by the Russian military in 1799. After the Kingdom of Georgia was annexed by the Russian Empire in 1801, Tsar Alexander I ordered General Aleksey Petrovich Yermolov, commander-in-chief of Russian forces in the Caucasus to improve the surfacing of the road to facilite troop movement and communications. When Yermolov announced the completion of work in 1817, the highway was heralded as the “Russian Simplon”. However, work continued until 1863.