Mozdoksky District

Mozdok Circassians

The small Circassian community in the town of Mozdok of Mozdoksky District in the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania occupies a unique place in the modern Circassian world due to the fact that they are of Orthodox Christian faith in its entirety.

They are the descendants of a small number of Circassians who settled in a fort founded by the Russian Army in 1763 within the then borders of Kabarda, despite protestations from and armed clashes with Circassians, in a location called Мэздэгу in the Circassian language which became Mozdok in Russian. Historically, they constitute a single community with the Orthodox Christian Circassians of the Kursk District in Stavropol.

Despıte numbering only a few thousands in a town that is populated predominantly by Russians, and known for its large Russian Army’s military base, the Circassians of Mozdok have managed to preserve the Circassian language and their unique way of life to this day and are increasingly connected with the rest of the Circassian world.