Trinity Church at Mount Kazbek
Kazbegi, Georgia
May 1, 2009
Kazbegi, Georgia
May 1, 2009
From Tbilisi the 200 year old Georgia Military Highway heads north to Russia passing through dramatic mountain scenery on a treacherous pot-holed road. It had snowed recently and although the road was ‘clear’ the snowdrifts on the side of the road loomed higher than the telephone poles and the tunnels were ice-rinks. I was on my way to see Mount Kazbek in the Greater Caucasus mountains and very close to border with Russia.
It’s a wild, tough place to live. The little hamlet of Gergeti supported a shop but the vegetables were rotting and most of the canned goods had expired in the last century. Surrounding the cluster of houses in the town are rolling hills dotted with small farms and large herds of rugged sheep. Among them I found a rustic but cozy guest house that caters to the handful of tourists that head this way either to summit the peak of Mt Kazbek or take short treks.
The little Trinity church perched on a hill above the town is the most popular destination. From below it provides an impossibly picturesque rural scene that has been warmly embraced by Georgians and features on many a postcard and travel poster. From the church itself are spectacular views across the landscape as far as the eye can see (or as far as the clouds permit).
