Katskhi Pillar

Standing at about 40 meters high, Katskhi Pillar is a remarkable natural limestone monolith that has been a place of historical and religious significance for centuries. One of the most isolated churches of the world is situated on the top of this pillar. Visitors are only allowed to reach up to the pillar’s base level, where you can witness a 6th-century Bolnisi cross marked into the limestone. At the bottom of the pillar is a monastery and a small chapel called The church of Simeon Stylites with decorative art and fresco paintings.

The pillar has been considered to be a sacred site since the pagan era and is popular as the “Pillar of Life”. It became a Christian site in the 6th century when the base of the pillar was marked with a cross. An iron ladder known as the “stairway to heaven” is constructed on the side of the column to reach the top. However, only local monks are allowed to climb it, including Maxime Qavtaradze, a hermit monk who has been residing in a solitary cell on top since 1993. The ladder was earlier opened for male visitors but since 2018 it has been closed for any visitor after an order by the spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Researchers have found evidence of two churches that were built by Stylites between the 6th and the 9th centuries, three hermit cells, a crypt with the remains of one unknown Stylite, and a wine cellar on the top.