The Ossetia

Ossetia

Ossetia Ossetic: Ир, Ирыстон Ir, Iryston; Russian: Осетия, Osetiya; Georgian: ოსეთი, Oset'i) is an ethnolinguistic region located on both sides of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, largely inhabited by the Ossetians. The Ossetian language is part of the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-European...

n Military Road was constructed, between 1854 and 1889, by Imperial Russian authorities in the Caucasus

Caucasus

The Caucasus, also Caucas or Caucasia , is a geopolitical region at the border of Europe and Asia, and situated between the Black and the Caspian sea...

. The road runs through the Rioni

Rioni River

The Rioni or Rion River is the main river of western Georgia. It originates in the Caucasus Mountains, in the region of Racha and flows west to the Black Sea, entering it north of the city of Poti...

 and Ardon

Ardon River

Ardon River is a river in North Ossetia-Alania in Russia, a left tributary of the Terek River. The length of the Ardon is 102 km, the area of its drainage basin is 2700 km². The Ardon originates in the glaciers of the Greater Caucasus. The Ossetian Military Road crosses the valley of the Ardon...

 river valleys and links Kutaisi

Kutaisi

Kutaisi is Georgia's second largest city and the capital of the western region of Imereti. It is 221 km to the west of Tbilisi.-Geography:...

, Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

 with Alagir

Alagir

Alagir is an industrial town and the administrative center of Alagirsky District of the Republic of North Ossetia–Alania, Russia, situated on the west bank of the Ardon River, west of the republic's capital Vladikavkaz...

, Russian Federation, crossing the Greater Caucasus

Greater Caucasus

Greater Caucasus , sometimes translated as "Caucasus Major", "Big Caucasus" or "Large Caucasus") is the major mountain range of the Caucasus Mountains....

 crest through the Mamison Pass

Mamison Pass

Mamison Pass is a high mountainous pass in the central Greater Caucasus crest, on the Georgia-Russia border. It is crossed by the Ossetian Military Road, a highway that links Kutaisi, Georgia, with Alagir, Russian Federation. Its peak is 2,911 m....

. The 270-km-long route is seldom used today, having been supplanted by the Trans-Caucasian Highway.