Derbent is probably the oldest continuously inhabited city in Russia, with some five thousand years of settlement claimed for the area and at least two thousand years of recorded history, and it sits on a narrow strip of land where the Caucasus mountains run almost into the Caspian Sea. That bottleneck made it a gateway between the steppe to the north and the Persian lands to the south, and empires fought to control it. The name itself comes from Persian and means closed gate, or barrier.
The Sasanian Persians built massive stone walls here in the fifth and sixth centuries to keep out nomadic invaders from the north. Two parallel walls run from the citadel on the hillside down to the sea, enclosing the old city like a long stone corridor, and the fortress of Naryn-Kala, perched above, is the heart of it. The whole complex has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2003, and walking along the walls, with the sea on one side and the mountains on the other, gives you a sense of how important the pass was. On clear days the Caspian glitters on the horizon.
Over the centuries, Arabs, Mongols, Turks and Russians took the city in turn. Inside the old town, the Juma Mosque, said to be among the oldest in Russia, was founded in the eighth century, and its courtyard with a gnarled old tree is a calm refuge from the heat. The streets are narrow and lined with stone houses, and the markets sell spices, dried fruit, pomegranates and carpets. The population is a mix of Azeris, Lezgins, Tats and Dagestanis, and several languages are heard in the streets.
For a rider, the road along the Caspian coast is flat and fast, running between the mountains and the sea, with orchards and vineyards. Traffic is busy, driving can be assertive and checkpoints are frequent, so keep your documents at hand and your speed sensible. Roadside stalls sell fruit and fresh fish, and the sea is warm in late summer.
There is fuel in Derbent and along the main road, and the town has cafés and small restaurants serving grilled fish, lamb, and dumplings with a yoghurt sauce. Summers are hot, with temperatures well above thirty degrees, and the best months for travel are May, June and September.