My journey through Armenia and Georgia took me particularly to the Greater and Lesser Caucasus, or rather the German-speaking tour guide spoke of “dem Kleinen und dem großen Kaukasus”, which in German sounds very similar to “der kleine und der große Klaus”. That is the German title of a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen; in Danish and in English this similarity isn't as striking [1].
The Caucasus is an important region that separates Asia Minor from Europe. It is hard to imagine that there is a region that belongs to Europe so far to the east. Turkey stretches its entire length in between; there are over 1700 kilometers between Tbilisi and Istanbul. This region, which lies between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, has been very interesting historically: at the moment I would like to concentrate more on geography.
Mt. Kazbek glowing in the morning
The Lesser Caucasus lies in the south and is approximately 600 km long [2]. It is home to Armenia's highest peak, Mount Aragat at 4,090 m. And between the Lesser and Greater Caucasus there is another mountain range that does not run roughly east-west, but rather north-south. It is called Lichi or Surami Mountains [3]. Interestingly, this range isn't verry high; it reaches up to 2,470 m. And the pass that you have to drive over between Tbilisi and Butami, or rather Kutaisi, is only 949 m high. Nevertheless, it is a very rugged mountain range and the Chinese are currently building the modern Silk Road. More than 90 tunnels and more than 50 new bridges are needed, slopes are being removed or at least road has to be protected from rock avalanches with concrete covering. It is a major project and I may want to report on it at length. To the north lies the Greater Caucasus [4], which is about 1,100 km long. To the east of it lies Mount Elbrus; this is the highest mountain in the region (and in Europe, by the way) at 5642 m. Mount Kazbek is in Georgia at 5047 m. Mount Aragas is the highest mountain in Armenia at 4090 m, as already mentioned, and is located in the Lesser Caucasus.
And what about Ararat? Ararat is not in the Caucasus, because it is of volcanic origin and is located in today's Turkey, but it is the national mountain of Armenia. It can be seen from Turkey, Armenia and Iran. I had seen it first from Iran [5] and only now from Armenia. Noah is said to have landed with the ark on Mount Ararat [6]. The word comes from Hebrew or later from the Assyrian word Urartu: Armenian Մասիս Masis or Արարատ Ararat [7].
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| Mount Ararat as seen from Armenia (enhanced photography) |
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| Mount Ararat as seen from Iran |
Links and Annotations:
[1] Der kleine Klaus und der große Klaus (dänisch: Lille Claus og Store Claus. Englisch: Little Claus and Big Claus), a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, published in Danish in 1835. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Der_kleine_Klaus_und_der_gro%C3%9Fe_Klaus and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Claus_and_Big_Claus
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lesser_Caucasus
[3] „Likhi Range (Georgian: ლიხის ქედი, romanized: likhis kedi) or Surami Range (Georgian: სურამის ქედი, romanized: suramis kedi) is a mountain range in Georgia … .“ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Likhi_Range Fun fact: The imitation crab meat surimi (Japanese すり身) sounds only roughly like the mountains.
[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caucasus_Mountains
[5] A Visit to the Armenian St. Thaddeus Monastery in Iran
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2018/10/a-visit-to-armenian-st-thaddeus.html
[6] You can read it like this in the Hebrew Bible: https://biblehub.com/genesis/8-4.htm or in the New American Standard Bible: https://biblehub.com/nasb/genesis/8.htm or in the Luther translation of 2017 and the Einheitsübersetzung (German): https://www.bibleserver.com/EU.LUT/1.Mose8%2C4
[7] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ararat und https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Ararat
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