Photos of the Georgian St George Ushguli Church Georgia

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Photos of the Medieval Georgian St George Ushguli Georgia,(country), the Caucasus Mountains. One of the highest churches in Europe. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.  (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Medieval Georgian St George Ushguli Georgia (country),

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Photos of St George Georgian Orthodox Church, Ushguli, Upper Svaneti, Georgia (country).

Remote St George Ushguli

One of the iconic views from Ushguli in Georgia is the tiny St George medieval Church “JGRag” set against the permanently snowy slopes of mount Shkhara (5193m) in the Caucasus.

The small stone Georgian church of St George has a single naive leading to an apse at the eastern end. The church is surrounded by a wall with a stone house for the priest. The house has a Svaneti defensive tower house. This is a remote church that was open to attack in the Caucasus pass.

One of the highest Churches in Europe

St George Church, Ushguli, is situated at over at over 2,200 m (7217 ft) above sea level in the Caucasus mountains and is one of the the highest church with a full time priest in Europe.

For 6 months of the year Ushguli is cut off from the rest of the world so the Church of St George serves only 200 residents who are snowed in for the winter. It is hard to image how Ushguli came to be built in such a remote and harsh environment, yet even harder to imagine how people survive permanently there.

Christianity in Georgia

Christianity became the official religion of Georgia in the 4th century making it the first Christian country in the world. Later Christianity was spread to the remote areas of Georgia by the missionaries known as the Thirteen Syrian Fathers.

In the remote areas like Ushguli pagan rituals were hard to destroy and even today pagan superstitions are still held by locals. It is still possible to find decapitated sheeps heads and rams horn crosses in the area.

St George Church, Ushguli has a unique atmosphere. It is difficult to get to and needs a 4×4. It is one of those rare places that feels very very remote and where you can feel the full power of nature.