Georgian Military Road. Kazbegi

Departure for an excursion, a visit to the Ananuri fortress and the Zhinvali reservoir.

Ananuri fortress is located in Georgia on the Georgian Military Highway, 70 km from Tbilisi, where the small river Vedzathevi flows into Aragvi. Ananuri served as the main stronghold for the Aragwa eristavs, the rulers of this region. The fortress dates back to the early feudal era and served as an outpost of defense, blocking the road leading from the Darial Gorge.

70 km north of Tbilisi, on the Aragvi river, there is the Zhinvali reservoir, which provides the Georgian capital with water and electricity. The dam on Aragvi was built in 1985, its height exceeds one hundred meters, its width is four hundred meters. The volume of water in the reservoir is more than half a billion cubic meters.

Stop in Gudauri at the Arch of Friendship. The Friendship of Peoples Arch is the inspiration of the famous sculptor Tsereteli, it was built at an altitude of 2384 meters in the Kazbegi region, on the Cross Pass at the Georgian Military Road, next to the Gudauri ski resort and is a mosaic panel that was very popular among sculptors of that era.

Lunch in Kazbegi (for an additional fee), a visit to the monastery of the Holy Trinity (Gergeti).

Church of the Holy Trinity (Tsminda Sameba) is a cross-domed church built in the XIV century. The only temple of this type in the Kazbeg district. It is located high on a mountain above the village of Gergeti and the town of Stepantsminda.

“... ragged white clouds dragged over the top of the mountain, and a secluded monastery, illuminated by the rays of the sun, seemed to float in the air, carried by clouds” (AS Pushkin, 1829)

Gergeti Sameba is an amazing temple. This is a rare case of the temple high in the mountains, at an altitude of 2170 meters from sea level. An unusual combination of architecture and snow. It can be beautifully photographed against the backdrop of the glaciers of Kazbek.

Return to Tbilisi.