Gergeti Trinity Cathedral

Located at 2200 meters above sea level, in front of Mount Kazbegi and above the settlement of Stepantsminda, Gergeti Trinity Cathedral is among the world’s most unique and mesmerizing sights. As with all mountain sights in Georgia, Gergeti Trinity Cathedral is also coated with legends and myths. Therefore, locals like to say that its location was chosen by a raven that decided to land on top of this mountain and eat the bones of a bull there. This, however, had been predicted by an old peasant.

According to history, Gergeti Trinity Cathedral was built by King George V the Brilliant in the XIV c. He liberated the country from Mongols, wrote a special code for Georgian mountaineers, and finally Christianized them. In order to celebrate these events, he decided to build an orthodox church on the border of the country, in a strategically important place. Gergeti Trinity Cathedral is built close to Dariali Gorge. Dariali Gorge has always served as an entrance to the North Caucasus. It had always been a borderland for the North Caucasian nomadic tribes. Controlling the borderline together with the North Caucasian tribes was crucial for Georgians, plus internationally significant trading routes passing through Dariali Gorge made the place of Gergeti Cathedral important.

Gergeti Trinity Cathedral has unique architecture that looks very austere and ascetic. It doesn’t have many decorations or ornaments. The construction is unique. It has an additional building attached called a trail chamber, which was used for discussions over vital issues in the mountains.

Today, Gergeti Trinity Cathedral is one of the most visited and popular places in Georgia. It is the location and landscape around the cathedral that draw visitors from all around the world. The feeling of vast space, beauty, and freedom that you can feel while admiring views from Gergeti Trinity Cathedral are never repeated.

And it is not only the sights that people are drawn to. Today, there are many things happening around Stepantsminda. For adventurous tourists, there are hiking, bike tours in the mountains, helicopter flights, paragliding, skiing, and much more you can do very close to Gergeti Trinity Cathedral. Here you can see the adventures.