White Sun of the Desert: From Dagestan to Merv

The film opens with a daydream: a Russian field, and Katerina Matveyevna, Sukhov's beloved wife, standing in it. These were the first scenes ever shot, starting on 24 July 1968 in Leningrad Oblast, near the village of Mistolovo. Only afterwards did the crew head south to the heat of the Caspian. The contrast is the point of the film: the green homeland Sukhov longs for was shot far from the sand he is trying to leave.

Location precision: Sources name the village but not the exact field; the pin marks Mistolovo itself.

Sukhov walks through the desert and finds Sayid buried in the sand, then frees him; it is the start of their quiet friendship. Sayid was buried for real in the sands of the Sarykum dune in Dagestan. Sarykum means "yellow sand": a dune about 3 kilometres long, lying roughly 18 kilometres northwest of Makhachkala. Today it lies inside a protected area, part of the Dagestan Nature Reserve.

Most of the film was shot on the western shore of the Caspian Sea near Makhachkala. The crew built a small Central Asian town, Pezhent, here, where Abdullah's gang arrives looking for a seaway across the border. The village buildings and Vereschagin's house were temporary mockups that had to be repaired regularly because of the wind.

Location precision: The set was temporary and its exact spot is not recorded in the sources; the pin marks Makhachkala.

For the second expedition the crew flew east in May 1969 to Turkmenistan and worked there until July. The sand dune scenes were shot in the Karakum Desert near Mary. They were punishing for the actors, who had to walk in large circles in the scorching heat to reach the camera without leaving tracks in the sand.

Location precision: Sources say only that the dunes are near Mary and the town of Bayram Ali; the pin marks Bayramaly.

In the story Sukhov puts the harem in the care of the local museum's curator, who later shows him an ancient underground passage to the sea. The museum scenes were filmed in the ancient city of Merv, and the distinctive Kyz Kala fortress figures prominently. The Great Kyz Kala is a large ruined fortress in Merv; its builders are uncertain, with dates argued from the 6th to the 9th century.

Visitor guidance: Great Kyz Kala stands among the ruins of ancient Merv, near Mary in Turkmenistan.