Ushguli, one of the most isolated villages in Europe and its millenary Christian temple

@ElentirENG ES 8·10·2024 · 23:41 0

Georgia is one of the European countries located in the remote Caucasus region, east of the Black Sea and at the gateway to Asia.

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Known as the Iberia of the East after the name given to it by the Greeks, its inhabitants formerly knew it as Kartli, which was one of the first Christian kingdoms in the world, since Christianity became the state religion in that country in 337, long before the Roman Empire, which officially adopted that religion in 380. Georgia preserves much of its historical Christian heritage thanks to its isolation, as it is a very mountainous country.

An example of such isolation is the town of Ushguli, in Svaneti, northern Georgia. With around 200 inhabitants, it is one of the most isolated towns and one of the highest permanent human settlements in Europe. It is 2,100 metres above sea level, close to Shkhara, the highest mountain in Georgia, whose peak reaches 5,203 metres. Due to its location, it snows in Ushguli for six months of the year. So much snow would not be a problem if it were not for the fact that access to the town is blocked quite frequently during the winter, so that sometimes it is necessary to resort to a helicopter to get there.

In addition to its isolation, one of the most curious features of Ushguli is its houses, shaped like defensive towers of between three and six floors. Their shape is not merely aesthetic: they were built in the High Middle Ages for defensive purposes. The good state of preservation of the village makes it seem as if time stood still there centuries ago. Due to this, in 1996 UNESCO declared it a World Heritage Site.

The main landmark of Ushguli is the Church of the Mother of God, commonly known as the Church of Lamaria. It belongs to the Georgian Autocephalous Apostolic Orthodox Church, one of the oldest and most populous Christian churches in Georgia. The Ushguli temple was built between the 9th and 10th centuries (the exact date is unknown, as there are no historical records about it), and is dedicated to the Orthodox tradition of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and her Ascension to Heaven.

The Church of Lamaria is situated on a hill to the northeast of the village and contains some medieval frescoes. This temple still serves its religious function today and even serves as the seat of a bishopric for the aforementioned Georgian Orthodox Church. If you want to know more about Ushguli, a few months ago Yes Theory published an interesting video of a trip to this remote town:

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Main photo: Tomáš Malík.