[Lifestyle] The ancient and mysterious temple built on a narrow 40-meter pillar

[Inkriql]

 

 

Ruins, mysteries, secrets, redemption and spirituality are some of the characteristics of the Katskhi Pillar story. Located in Georgia, the country located on the Black Sea coast, between Eastern Europe and Western Asia, this temple stands more than 40 meters high on a limestone monolith.

The first mention of the pillar in history appears in the 18th-century work Description of the Kingdom of Georgia, written by the cartographer, historian and geographer Vakhushti.

 

“There is a rock within the ravine that rises like a pillar, considerably high. There is a small church on top of the rock, but no one is able to climb it, nor do they know how to do it”, can be read in the text. The pillar of life, as it is called by those around it, is crowned by a church that, according to expert archaeologists, was built between the 6th and 7th centuries.

In 1944, the first expedition to the place was led, organized by the mountaineer Alexander Japaridze and the writer Levan Gotua. Upon reaching the top, the climbers discovered the ruins of two ancient temples alongside the skeleton of what appeared to be the last monk-stylist who had lived there more than 600 years ago.
Pilar Katskhi
Pilar KatskhiiStock

These religious were known to go to secluded places such as columns or pillars (from the Greek stylos) where they had peace and quiet for their prayers. For this reason they are called monk-stylists.

However, even today the way in which that temple was built is still unknown due to the height of the monolith and the difficulty in climbing the high rock.
a new visitor

Until a few years ago, Katskhi was crowned only with ruins. It was not until the arrival of the 54-year-old monk-stylist Maxime Qavtaradze that he came to life again. This religious lived at the top since 2015 and only went down twice a week to pray with his followers.

 

 

https://www.lanacion.com.ar/lifestyle/el-milenario-y-misterioso-templo-hecho-sobre-un-angosto-pilar-de-40-metros-nid15032022/