Kazbeghi, Georgia: Hiking to the Gergeti Trinity Church

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Visiting Stepantsminda means the obligatory visit to the Gergeti Trinity Church. It sits atop a mountain and stares down at anyone passing through the tiny town. While in the Khevi province, we spent our mornings, afternoons and evenings admiring it from afar as it caught the sunlight and hid behind the clouds. It only seemed fitting we make the trek to the top of the mountain to get a closer look.



The Gergeti Trinity Church sits at an elevation of 2170 km on the right bank of Chkheri under Mount Kazbek, one of the highest peaks in the Caucasus Mountains. It was built in the 14th century and is still an active Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church. It is no surprise it was shut down briefly by the Russians, but it never lost it’s appeal. It is the only cross-cupola church in the province. Sitting atop a steep mountain, isolated and completely surrounded by nature has made this church a symbol for the Republic of Georgia.



Georgia is full of beautiful, old and well-maintained churches. One could make an entire vacation hopping from one to the other, photographing their unique architecture and soaking up the silent history. We did not do this. But we did visit this one that seems to find itself on the cover of many travel books and tourism brochures.



It is often reported that a tarmac road is under construction and supposedly completed all the way to the church. This is not exactly true. It is under construction. It is not completed. We hired a driver to take us up most of the way as were not as ambitious as those mountain climbers and hikers staying at our hotel. Honestly, I think the ride up was more fascinating than the church.



Our take-no-prisoners driver hauled ass up a mountain that would have stopped most SUVs. Not only was he in a personal battle with all the dips, gullies and creek beds, he had no patience for those drivers who made the mistake of being in front of us. We watched drivers surrender to the road and attempt to back down the mountain as our driver waved his hands, snickered at their stupidity and shouted out Russian phrases that probably translated to something like “bless their hearts.” It was eye-opening on the way up the mountain, but on the way down the mountain we were yelling along with our driver.



Unlike the drive to get to there, the church is pristine, peaceful and simply majestic. It feels frozen in time with it’s modest interior. The sweeping views are as breathtaking as is the beautiful simplicity of the church. It is clean and orderly and quite; most likely because of the stern monk that stands guard and corrects anyone not acting religious enough. To avoid his judgement, Kyle covered his legs with the provided sarongs. I just went ahead and covered everything with the provided scarves. Then we sat and snickered at the amateurs who did not and were the target of his unmasked disgust.



The art and relics within the church were elaborate and detailed as one might expect. Each portrait illustrated what we have determined is the Georgian nose—slender, long and maybe a slight hook at the end. As you can imagine, no photos were allowed in the sanctuary and although I saw one lady breaking the rule, I was not going to risk it. I already felt too vulnerable as the monk seemed to give us a little side-eye look every time Kyle’s sneakers squeaked against the floor.



The most fascinating part of the visit was watching pilgrims enter the church and go through their prayer rituals. I had noticed in several small towns that it was not uncommon to see someone praying, kissing their fingers and then touching a holy site. Christianity is alive and strong in Georgia, even at this little church in the clouds.



**For more stories and photos about our travels, please follow along on Facebook at Valeri Crenshaw and on Instagram at Valerispassport!***

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Comments

[Rebecca Rice]

Just a slight double-take that the church sits at an elevation of 2140 km (and you & Kyle being able to climb to it! :-) My feeble brain would have automatically converted/ignored it if I had retained more than a shadowy memory of metric units... Anyway, it caused me to read it twice and then smile.