Gergeti Trinity Church

A fourteenth-century Georgian Orthodox church standing on a triangular rock promontory at 2,170 meters elevation above the Kazbegi valley, with the glaciated summit of Mount Kazbek (5,047 meters) directly behind it when viewed from the town below. The church and its detached bell tower are reached by a steep trail from Kazbegi, or by vehicle on a rough track, and the views from the promontory extend down the full length of the Terek gorge. Dawn and alpenglow conditions produce the most intense color contrast between the stone church, the glacier, and the surrounding alpine meadows.