There is something futuristic in Magas. This is not connected with architecture, which is extremely ordinary, represents the triumph of the “Luzhkov style” over the ancient traditions of architecture in Ingushetia. The new courts or, for example, the Fundamental Library of Moscow State University and regional administrations look something like this in Moscow. It's about the general atmosphere, not about architecture. The capital of Ingushetia, which has no history, looks strange and unusual. One gets the impression that you are in an experimental sterile laboratory, which works for a single purpose: forward, into the future.
Population, main buildings
In the future capital of Ingushetia rushes consistently, starting in 1995, and since 2000 - and in the status of the capital, already official. The city during this time grew in length by 4 km, and in width - by 3 km, also acquired a population (in Magas in 2012 about 5 thousand people lived permanently, and more recently, in early 2010, its population was only 524 resident). About 5-6 thousand people come here every day to work. About 90% of all republican state institutions are located in this city, including the residence of the president, ministries and parliament, as well as small units of the administrative apparatus. The Ingush State University is also located here , and by the 20th anniversary of the formation of the republic, the television building was completed. The capital of Ingushetia also has its own republican bank, and a business center has recently begun to actively develop.
Objects under construction
Adds futurism and future tense that dominates the news from this city. It mainly refers to the dates when it is planned to open the facilities under construction today: the Drama Theater, the Cathedral Mosque, a diagnostic center, the House of Friendship of the Peoples of the North Caucasus, schools, a business center, residential buildings, kindergartens and other buildings. The sense of sterility is reinforced not only by the cleanliness and novelty of city streets, but also by the absence of any industry. Factories, factories and agricultural enterprises are not fundamentally built here.
Some features of the city
Magas is a city of students sitting with laptops in between classes on the avenue of the Republic, officials and a few students dressed in elegant attire. Lurking signs, noisy markets, a crush - all this you will find in Nazran, roadblocks are located in border zones and gorges, history and ancient architecture are in the mountainous, southern part of the republic. It was an honor for this city to turn out to be an ideal settlement like the ones that Soviet citizens built with great enthusiasm in the last century, who at the same time wanted to build a new life. Let us hope that Ingushetia (the republic whose capital we describe) will be no less understandable, open and, most importantly, calm than today its main city.
Station and airport
30 km from Magas is the airport of the same name, and the railway station is eight kilometers from the city, in Nazran. The capital of Ingushetia is on the Kavkaz (federal) highway, so everything is quite convenient in terms of transport. You can move around the city by minibus or bus, but walking is easier - the distances are very small. Near Magas, Sunzha flows, a mountain river. The former capital of Ingushetia, Nazran, located nearby, is also located on this river.
What may be interesting to tourists
There are very few Russian residents in the city, the population is overwhelmingly Ingush. Magas, the capital of Ingushetia, does not yet have a mosque. It is planned, however, by 2016 to complete the construction of the Cathedral Mosque, as well as the spiritual center, along with a madrassah and a number of other institutions.
In the city due to construction work it is quite noisy during the day. However, the center of Magas has already been built, so it’s clean, there are no trucks.
A hotel in this city is still under construction - there are no tourists here. Those who want to look at the current capital of Ingushetia today will have to stop in another city. The nearest is Nazran, the former capital of Ingushetia. But this is not very far, besides, buses often go there. It is also not easy to rent an apartment here, as the population of the city is constantly growing, and temporary housing here is just like hot cakes.
The development of the city is low-rise, there are no and will not be buildings in the near future with storeys above 5-6. This construction policy of Magas is partly due to the fact that the maximum population in the capital is not expected to exceed 30 thousand people.
An observation tower is being built near the government house and the president’s residence, which is made in the form of a tower. Therefore, in a short time the city and its environs can be admired from a bird's eye view.
City Day is celebrated on April 15th.
In Magas, as in other cities of this republic, most women and girls wear scarves and long skirts. Visitors are not required to abide by local traditions, but it is recommended to do so. You can do without a scarf, but it is better to replace jeans with a skirt no longer than the knees.
The story of Magas
Magas today is a blank sheet, which since 1995 began to be painted in the colors of the state Ingush flag.
It is the only new city that was built in the post-Soviet time on the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as one of the few in the world, founded originally as the capital.
The inhabitants of Ingushetia, talking about Magas, often recall Peter the Great and the city he founded on the Neva. But the circumstances of the formation of these two capitals are fundamentally different. The city of St. Petersburg “stole” the status of the capital from the ancient, but quite capable and lively Moscow. The Republic of Ingushetia, after the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, whose center was located in Grozny, broke up, was forced to remain without an administrative center at all.
How Magas became the capital
The (former) capital of Ingushetia, temporarily acting as the main city, Nazran could not accept this role, since it was and remains, in fact, a large rural settlement. The Ingush consider Vladikavkaz to be the historical capital, however, as you know, it has long been the main city of another republic, North Ossetia.
The way out of this difficult situation was the construction from scratch of the capital. Other similar examples include Astana in Kazakhstan, but it appeared 2 years later than the city of Magas. 4 km from Nazran in 1995, the garden city grew, right in the field - the cultural, economic and administrative center of this youngest republic in Russia, the new capital of Ingushetia.
Location hypotheses of ancient Magas
Magas, according to legend, was called the capital of the ancient Alanian state (which was an association of mountain tribes). The location of the historic city is not exactly established. Translated from the Ingush language, the name of the capital means "city of the Sun." It is known that in 1239 the troops of Batu destroyed ancient Magas. According to some versions, it was located exactly on the site of the present Ingush capital. But this assumption is not confirmed. There are two solar signs on the flag and coat of arms of the city, which is a reference to the city of the Sun.
There is, however, a more prosaic hypothesis, according to which the lands of the present capital once belonged to the family of Ruslan Aushev, the first president of the republic. Under him, the city of Magas was founded.
We told you about what the new capital of Ingushetia represents. Scanwords, which are found in many in newspapers and magazines, often contain a question about its name. Now you know which answer to write.