Katskhi Pillar
Interesting facts
- The restored church on the summit is tiny, about 4.5 by 3.5 metres, with a burial crypt of roughly 2 by 1 metres beneath it.
- After the 1944 climb, an architect in the party took the ruins for two 5th- or 6th-century stylite churches; excavations in 2006 re-dated them to the 9th–10th centuries.
- The wine cellar found on the summit undermined the old idea that only the most extreme ascetics had lived on the pillar.
- The 13th-century inscription, cut in the old Georgian asomtavruli script on a small limestone plate, was found in 2007 and also names the Pillar of Life.
- The monk who revived the hermitage installed an iron ladder about 40 metres long, while food and supplies were hauled up to him by winch.
- During his twenty years on the summit the monk came down only about twice a week.
- The relief cross at the foot of the pillar closely resembles the early medieval cross known from Bolnisi, one of Georgia's oldest churches.
Why it is worth it
In a quiet valley of Imereti, in western Georgia, a single column of limestone about 40 metres high rises straight out of the forest, and on its narrow summit stands a small stone church with a cluster of cells. The Katskhi Pillar is a natural monolith, but what makes it unforgettable is the way people have used it: for centuries it was a retreat for hermits who chose to live between earth and sky, and the sight of a building perched on top of a sheer rock, reached only by a thin ladder, looks almost unreal.
The summit is uneven and measures roughly 150 square metres. On it are the little hall church of St Maximus the Confessor, a burial crypt, three hermit cells, a wine cellar where diggers found eight large qvevri jars, and a protective wall. A cave room with two small windows is cut into the vertical face about 10 metres below the top, and at the foot of the pillar a cross carved in relief recalls early medieval crosses known elsewhere in Georgia. Locals have long called the rock the Pillar of Life and venerated it as a symbol of the True Cross; one tradition held that an iron chain once linked its top to the dome of the Katskhi church about 1.5 km away.
For a long time nobody knew what was up there. The 18th-century geographer Prince Vakhushti described a high rock with a small church on top that no one could climb. The first documented ascent came only in July 1944, by a party led by the mountaineer Alexander Japaridze and the writer Levan Gotua. Later research and excavations dated the structures to the 9th–10th centuries, and an inscription from the 13th century, naming a certain Giorgi who built three hermit cells, shows the hermitage was still alive then. In the 1990s the monk Maxim Qavtaradze settled on the pillar and lived there for some twenty years; with help from local people and the national heritage agency the church was restored between 2005 and 2009.
Visitors stay at the base, where there is a newer church dedicated to Simeon the Stylite and the ruins of an old wall and bell tower; climbing the pillar has not been permitted since 2012. The best views come from the slope opposite, where you can see the whole column standing against the wooded valley of the Katskhura stream.
Getting there
The pillar stands near the village of Katskhi, a short drive from the mining town of Chiatura, and about 25 km from Zestaponi. The nearest airport is David the Builder Kutaisi International Airport (KUT), about 62 km away. Minibuses between Kutaisi and Chiatura pass close to Katskhi, and a local bus runs from Chiatura to the village; a car or taxi is the simplest option.
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
The Katskhi Pillar is a natural limestone monolith located at the village of Katskhi in western Georgian region of Imereti, near the town of Chiatura. It is approximately 40 metres (130 ft) high, and overlooks the small river valley of Katskhura, a right affluent of the Q'virila.
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