The historic Kazbek Postal Station was the third stopping point on the route from Vladikavkaz to Tiflis (Tbilisi).
It was located directly in the mountain village of Stepantsminda, at the very foot of Mount Kazbek.
Regular express postal service along the Georgian Military Road was officially established in 1827.
It was during this period that a network of eleven postal stations was created.
Prior to that, the site had been occupied by a military redoubt and a simple roadside outpost that protected travelers from raids by mountain tribes.
According to Vladimir Vladimirovich Svyatlovsky (1871–1927), a traveler who journeyed along the Georgian Military Road in 1893, “the Kazbek postal station is housed in a large two-story stone building of highly elaborate architecture.”
The upper floor contained rooms for travelers, which cost about 50 kopecks per night, although they were kept “disgustingly filthy.”
In Svyatlovsky’s opinion, the station’s kitchen and buffet were likewise “below all criticism.”