The village Derbent (Darband) is located in a strategic location at the cross of important roads. The name of the village is translated from Farsi as a closed gate. Historians believe that here local people held Alexander the Great’s army for a long time. There was also the famous "Iron gate", where customs duties were collected from caravans following the Silk Road in the middle ages. Today Derbent is considered the gateway to Surkhandarya district.
In the north of the village, you can see the entrance to Grand canyon, squeezed in the grip of high precipitous rocks. The canyon was formed by the river Machaydarya, which flows down from the Hissar mountains reaching a height of more than 4000 m, for millions of years it has drilled its way into the limestone rocks. In some places, the width of the canyon narrows to 15 meters. Driving through the gorge, you get into the incredible world of Hollywood movies adventures.
In the left side of the canyon near the large karst source there is a place of pilgrimage with a symbolic grave of Saint Huzhamoy-ota. Numerous pilgrims come here. The narrow winding Kaptarkhona canyon, where thousands of pigeons live, is located in central part of the main gorge.
The road to Machay valley to the mountain villages of Machay, Kyzyl Nur, Kintala is passing via Derbent gorge. This is a starting point of tourist routes to the mountain ranges Hodja Gur, Gur Ata and Sarikiya. A famous grotto of Teshiktash is located near the village of Yukara Machay, where the burial of Neanderthals was found.
