Katskhi Pillar (Most Isolated Churches),Village of Katskhi in western Georgian

The Katskhi Pillar is a natural limestone monolith located at the village of Katskhi in western Georgian region of Imereti, near the town of Chiatura. It is approximately 40 metres (130 ft) high, and overlooks the small river valley of Katskhura, a right affluent of the Q'virila.

The rock, with visible church ruins on a top surface measuring c. 150 m2, has been venerated by locals as the Pillar of Life and a symbol of the True Cross, and has become surrounded by legends. It remained unclimbed by researchers and unsurveyed until 1944 and was more systematically studied from 1999 to 2009. These studies determined the ruins were of an early medieval hermitage dating from the 9th or 10th century. A Georgian inscription paleographically dated to the 13th century suggests that the hermitage was still extant at that time. Religious activity associated with the pillar was revived in the 1990s and the monastery building had been restored within the framework of a state-funded program by 2009.

 

The Katskhi pillar complex currently consists of a church dedicated to Maximus the Confessor, a crypt (burial vault), three hermit cells, a wine cellar, and a curtain wall on the uneven top surface of the column. At the base of the pillar are the newly built church of Simeon Stylites and ruins of an old wall and belfry.

The church of St. Maximus the Confessor is located at the south-easternmost corner of the top surface of the Katskhi pillar. A small simple hall church design with the dimensions of 4.5 × 3.5 m., it is a modern restoration of the ruined medieval church built of stone. Beneath and south of the church is an elongated rectangular crypt with the dimensions of 2.0 × 1.0 m., which had served as a burial vault. Digs at the ruined wine cellar revealed eight large vessels known in Georgia as k'vevri. Also of note is a rectangular cellar grotto with the entrance and two skylights on the vertical surface of the rock, some 10-metre (33 ft) below the top. At the very base of the pillar there is a cross in relief, exhibiting parallels with similar early medieval depictions found elsewhere in Georgia, particularly at Bolnisi.

 

In historical records, the Katskhi pillar is first mentioned by the 18th-century Georgian scholar Prince Vakhushti, who reports in his Geographic Description of the Kingdom of Georgia: "There is a rock within the ravine standing like a pillar, considerably high. There is a small church on the top of the rock, but nobody is able to ascend it; nor know they how to do that." No other written accounts of monastic life or ascents survive. A number of local legends surround the pillar. One of them has it that the top of the rock was connected by a long iron chain to the dome of the Katskhi church, located at a distance of around 1.5 km from the pillar.

In July 1944 a group led by the mountaineer Alexander Japaridze and the writer Levan Gotua made the first documented ascent of the Katskhi pillar. Vakhtang Tsintsadze, an architecture specialist with the group, reported in his 1946 paper that the ruins found on top of the rock were remains of two churches, dating from the 5th and 6th centuries and associated with a stylite practice, a form of Christian asceticism. Since 1999, the Katskhi pillar has become the subject of more systematic research. Based on further studies and archaeological digs conducted in 2006, Giorgi Gagoshidze, an art historian with the Georgian National Museum, re-dated the structures to the 9th–10th century. He concluded that this complex was composed of a monastery church and cells for hermits. Discovery of the remnants of a wine cellar also undermined the idea of extreme ascetism flourishing on the pillar. In 2007, a small limestone plate with the asomtavruli Georgian inscriptions was found, paleographically dated to the 13th century and revealing the name of a certain "Giorgi", responsible for the construction of three hermit cells. The inscription also makes mention of the Pillar of Life, echoing the popular tradition of veneration of the rock as a symbol of the True Cross.

Religious activity started to revive in 1995, with the arrival of the monk Maxim Qavtaradze, a native of Chiatura. Between 2005 and 2009, the monastery building on the top of the pillar was restored with the support of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia. The rock was once accessible to male visitors through an iron ladder running from its base to the top, but has recently been deemed inaccessible to the public.

Maxime Qavtaradze, a monk of the Orthodox Church, has lived on top of Katskhi Pillar for 20 years, coming down only twice a week. Qavtaradze’s life of solitude came to light when a photographer from New Zealand, named Amos Chapple, was permitted to capture the monk’s world on his camera. If you think that was easy, do know that the photographer had to pass the litmus test of spending four days in intensive prayer before he was allowed to climb up the rock and do his job! Each of these days involved seven hours of prayer for him, including a four hour stint from 2 AM to sunrise.

Thanks to Chapple’s hard work and subsequent ascent to the top of this rock, we now know the story of this monk. Before becoming the monk he is now, Maxime Qavtaradze used to work as a crane operator. It was in the year 1993 that he took his monastic vows and moved up to the top of this rock. The major reason to do so, as he says, “It is up here in the silence that you can feel God's presence”. Talking a bit about his life in the past, he revealed, "When I was young I drank, sold drugs, everything. When I ended up in prison I knew it was time for a change. I used to drink with friends in the hills around here and look up at this place, where land met sky.”

Life wasn’t easy for the monk when he first moved to this pillar-top. Looking back at those days, he says, “For the first two years there was nothing up here so I slept in an old fridge to protect me from the weather". It was in the later years that Christian supporters renovated the already existing derelict chapel there, and built a cottage for him to live in.

Evidence of use by stylites as late as the 13th century has been found on the top of the rock. With the aid of local villagers and the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia, Qavtaradze restored the 1200-year-old monastic chapel on the top of the rock. A film documentary on the project was completed in 2013. 

 

Qavtaradze is also a Stylite monk, who are also known as pillar-saints, known to live a life of solitude on the top of a pillar, cut off from the rest of the world.

Although it is an arduous climb and not everyone is allowed to visit the top of this rock, we think it won’t be a bad idea to try your luck. Besides, the neighbourhood itself makes for an amazing destination to travel to.  

Loneliest House in World, Island of Ellirey, Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland

The Loneliest House in the World is located at the group of beautiful remote islands off of the southern coast of Iceland called the Vestmannaeyjar. And in that archipelago, there’s a beautiful island called Elliðaey, and on that island, there’s a single, solitary mysterious log cabin that has generated wild speculation as to its purpose ever since photos of it first surfaced on the internet.

The island was inhabited roughly three hundred years ago by five families that subsisted by fishing, hunting puffins, and raising cattle. By the 1930s, however, the last permanent inhabitants had left their tiny homes. Some speculated that the island had been donated to famous Icelandic singer Bjork (which it wasn’t), while others thought it was home to an eccentric billionaire (which it wasn’t). The pedestrian truth is that the tiny house serves the purpose of a hunting cabin and a sauna for a local hunting association, which hunts puffins on the off-the-grid island.

                             

On a remote, deserted, island in the Vestmannaejar archipelago just off Iceland’s south coast sits a lonely, solitary white house on the side of a green hill. Exposed to the elements and facing the wild Atlantic waves that crash upon the rocks, this appears to be the most remote home in the world. The island is Elliðaey, and the image of the small, isolated house has given rise to a whole host of theories about who lives there. Over recent years, Elliðaey has been featured in countless reports and articles, fuelling speculation about the island and the owner of its mysterious house

Even Some have even speculated that the house doesn’t exist at all and that it has simply been photo-shopped onto images of the island in order to cook up an interesting story. Although a handful of families are known to have lived on the island from the 18th century, it has been completely uninhabited since the 1930s. Life for the small number of people who braved the elements here in the 18th and 19th centuries was grueling and lonely, and they lived primarily on fish and puffin, Elliðaey’s principal food source.

 

Eventually, in the 1930s, the remaining five inhabitants decided that their prospects would be much improved by moving to the mainland, and the island has lain empty ever since. Where, then, did the white house come from? Although life on Elliðaey was difficult, it did offer one advantage: a ready and ample supply of puffins, and former residents and neighbors did return to the island periodically in order to hunt. In the 1950s, the Elliðaey Hunting Association decided to build a base on the island to make these trips easier.

The Elliðaey Hunting Association continues to maintain the white house as a hunting lodge to support their activities during expeditions to hunt puffins on the island. While it might appear to be an idyllic retreat from the world, the little white house lacks electricity, running water and even indoor plumbing. However, it does boast its own sauna, essential after a long day of hunting, which is fed by a natural rainwater collection system.

it remains heaven for bird life. In addition to the many puffins that live on the island, Elliðaey is also a major nesting area for storm petrels and other sea birds. For this reason, it is officially listed as a nature reserve and a protected area. Tour companies operating in the Vestmannaejar peninsula offer day trips to this beautiful, wild location, but for the time being, the little white house, and the rest of the island remains unoccupied.

The Butchart Gardens, Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada

The Butchart Gardens is a group of floral display gardens in Brentwood Bay, British Columbia, Canada, located near Victoria on Vancouver Island. The gardens receive over a million visitors each year. The gardens have been designated a National Historic Site of Canada.

Robert Pim Butchart (1856–1943) began manufacturing Portland cement in 1888 near his birthplace of Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada. He and his wife Jennie Butchart (1866–1950) came to the west coast of Canada because of rich limestone deposits necessary for cement production. In 1904, they established their home near his quarry on Tod Inlet at the base of the Saanich Peninsula on Vancouver Island.

In 1907, sixty-five-year-old garden designer Isaburo Kishida of Yokohama came to Victoria, at the request of his son, to build a tea garden for Esquimalt Gorge Park. This garden was wildly popular and a place to be seen. Several prominent citizens, Jennie Butchart among them, commissioned Japanese gardens from Kishida for their estates. He returned to Japan in 1912.

 

In 1909, when the limestone quarry was exhausted, Jennie set about turning it into the Sunken Garden, which wa completed in 1921. They named their home "Benvenuto" ("welcome" in Italian), and began to receive visitors to their gardens. In 1926, they replaced their tennis courts with an Italian garden and in 1929 they replaced their kitchen vegetable garden with a large rose garden to the design of Butler Sturtevant of Seattle. Samuel Maclure, who was consultant to the Butchart Gardens, reflected the aesthetic of the English Arts and Crafts Movement.

In 1939, the Butcharts gave the Gardens to their grandson Ian Ross (1918–1997) on his 21st birthday. Ross was involved in the operation and promotion of the gardens until his death 58 years later. In 1953, miles of underground wiring were laid to provide night illumination, to mark the 50th anniversary of The Gardens. In 1964, the ever-changing Ross Fountain was installed in the lower reservoir to celebrate the 60th anniversary. In 1994, the Canadian Heraldic Authority granted a coat of arms to the Butchart Gardens. In 2004, two 30-foot (9.1 m) totem poles were installed to mark the 100th anniversary, and The Gardens were designated as a national historic site.

Ownership of The Gardens remains within the Butchart family; the owner and managing director since 2001 is the Butcharts' great-granddaughter Robin-Lee Clarke. In 1982 the Butchart Gardens was used as the inspiration for the gardens at the Canadian pavilion opened at Epcot Centre in Orlando Florida.

In December, 2009 the Children's Pavilion and the Rose Carousel were opened. The menagerie includes thirty animals ranging from bears, to horses, to ostriches, to zebras and mirrors the world from which The Gardens draws its visitors. The designs were hand-picked by the owner, in consultation with an artist from North Carolina. The carvings were done by some of the few remaining carvers of carousel art. Each animal is carved from basswood and took many months to complete. There are also two chariots able to accommodate disabled persons. 

 

 

While Mrs. Butchart collected plants, Mr. Butchart collected ornamental birds from all over the world, having a parrot in the house, ducks in the Star Pond and peacocks on the front lawn. He built several elaborate birdhouses for the gardens and trained pigeons on the site of the present-day Begonia Bower.

Today, The Butchart Gardens are a National Historic Site of Canada. They are consistently rated among the world’s most beautiful garden attractions and top places to go in Canada by USA Today, CNN Travel, Condé Nast, National Geographic, Tripadvisor and Frommer’s and more. The Butchart Gardens are open 365 days a year! From spring through the holiday season, The Gardens offer a varied display and experience which is why so many visitors return year after year.

A lush, 55-acre property, The Butchart Gardens brim with five main gardens, stunning fountains, intriguing sculptures, trickling streams and explodes with wave upon wave of color for much of the year. No matter what time you visit, you are bound to discover something new.

for more information - Official Website

U.S. Route 50, Nevada (Loneliest Road in America), America

U.S. Route 50 is a transcontinental highway in the United States, stretching from West Sacramento, California, in the west to Ocean City, Maryland, on the east coast. The Nevada portion crosses the center of the state and was named The Loneliest Road in America by Life magazine in July 1986. The name was intended as a pejorative, but Nevada officials seized it as a marketing slogan. The name originates from large desolate areas traversed by the route, with few or no signs of civilization. The highway crosses several large desert valleys separated by numerous mountain ranges towering over the valley floors, in what is known as the Basin and Range province of the Great Basin.

US 50 has a diverse route through the state, traversing the resort communities of Lake Tahoe, the state capital in Carson City, historical sites such as Fort Churchill State Historic Park, petroglyphs, alpine forests, desert valleys, ghost towns, and Great Basin National Park. The route was constructed over a historic corridor, initially used for the Pony Express and Central Overland Route and later for the Lincoln Highway. Before the formation of the U.S. Highway System, most of US 50 in Nevada was designated State Route 2. The routing east of Ely has changed significantly from the original plans. The route change resulted from a rivalry between Nevada and Utah over which transcontinental route was better to serve California-bound traffic, the Lincoln Highway or the Victory Highway. 

US 50 crosses the central portion of Nevada, entering the west side of the state near Lake Tahoe and exiting the east side near Great Basin National Park. The route crosses mostly desolate terrain in its journey across the state; US 50 passes through several large desert valleys and basins. The highway crosses 17 named mountain passes that break up the Nevada desert. To crest some of the passes along US 50 requires navigating steep 8% grades and hairpin turns through pine forests to reach elevations of over 7,000 feet (2,100 m).

In the stretch of highway between Fallon and Delta, Utah, a span of 409 miles (658 km), there are three small towns, Austin, Eureka, and Ely. This span is roughly the same distance as Boston, Massachusetts, to Baltimore, Maryland, or Paris, France, to Zürich, Switzerland. Traffic along US 50 varies greatly. The average annual daily traffic in 2007 ranged from 52,000 vehicles per day in Carson City, to 530 vehicles per day near the Duckwater turnoff.

In addition to portions being designated the Loneliest Road and Lincoln Highway, the portion concurrent with Interstate 580 in Carson City is designated the Carson City Deputy Sheriff Carl Howell Memorial Freeway in honor of a sheriff's officer who was shot to death while attempting to rescue a victim of domestic violence from her house.

 

In July 1986, Life magazine published an article that gave US 50 in Nevada the name "The Loneliest Road in America". The article portrayed the highway, and rural Nevada, as a place devoid of civilization. Officials from White Pine County decided to make the best of the publicity generated from the article, and convinced state authorities to do the same. Jointly, they began to use the pejorative article as a platform to market the area for visitors interested in desert scenery, history, and solitude. The Nevada Department of Transportation adopted the name in official highway logs, and placed custom Highway 50 markers along the route.

The Nevada Commission on Tourism sponsors a promotion where visitors can stop at several designated locations along the route and have the passport section of a state issued "survival guide" marked with a stamp representing that location. Visitors can mail in the completed passport and receive a certificate, signed by the Governor, certifying they survived The Loneliest Road in America. The word "survived" is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Life article, which quoted an American Automobile Association spokesperson as saying, "We warn all motorists not to drive there unless they're confident of their survival skills. Since the article was published, US 50 has gained popularity among people desiring a scenic or less traveled alternative to Interstate 80 across Nevada. This increase in popularity has caused at least one writer to dispute whether US 50 still deserves the title of The Loneliest Road in America.Traffic counts on US 50 are now considerably higher than on US 6, just to the south in Nye County.

The 1971 road movie Vanishing Point, notable for its on-location filming across the southwest United States, used several sections of US 50 as part of the driving sequences. In 1991, Stephen King drove along US 50 as part of a cross country trip. He stopped at Ruth, a small town near Ely. Studying the town, King fantasized about the fate of the residents. King then heard a local legend about how the ghosts of Chinese miners, who died while trapped in a cave-in, can be seen crossing Highway 50 to haunt the city of Ruth. King merged these details into his own story, including references to The Loneliest Road in America, which became the novel Desperation.

In 2002, Neil Peart, then taking a sabbatical from Rush, published Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road, his account of a long-distance motorcycle journey across Canada and the United States. He traveled across US 50 in Nevada, and remarked on the complete absence of any development on long stretches of the road, including a sign reading "No Services for 88 Miles." In 2008, the British television show Top Gear featured the show's presenters Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May driving across Nevada along US 50 in the cars of their choice. Clarkson stated he was "mesmerised by the straightness of the road.

For more information - U.S. Route 50 in Nevada

Vinicunca ( The Rainbow Mountain), Cordillera de Vilcanota, Cusco, Peru

Vinicunca or Winikunka, also called Montaña de Siete Colores, Montaña de Colores or Rainbow Mountain, is a mountain in the Andes of Peru with an altitude of 5,200 meters above sea level. It is located on the road to the Ausangate mountain in the Peruvian Andes, in the Cusco region, between the districts of Cusipata, province of Quispicanchi, Pitumarca, and the province of Canchis.

Tourist access requires a two-hour drive from Cusco, and a walk of about 5-kilometer (3.1 mi) or three-and-a-half-hour drive through Pitumarca and a one-half-kilometre (0.31 mi) steep walk (1-1.5 hours) to the hill. As of 2019, no robust methods of transportation to Vinicunca have been developed to accommodate travelers, as it requires passage through a valley.

In the middle of the 2010s, mass tourism came, attracted by the mountain's series of stripes of various colors due to its mineralogical composition on the slopes and summits. The mountain used to be covered by glacier caps, but these have melted recently due to global warming.

 

Travelers to Peru and locals generally agree that the best time of the year to visit the colorful site is in August, since it is dry season and provides a beautiful view, maximizing the vivid colors of the mountains. Nevertheless, the famous colors always look beautiful. Travelers are advised to try to avoid days following significant rainfall (in December, January and February), more so after snow has fallen.As to fauna, travelers may see a wide variety of alpacas and other camelids in certain short seasons.

According to the Cultural Landscape Office of the Decentralization of the City of Cusco, the seven colors of the mountain are due to its mineralogical composition: the pink color is due to red clay, fangolitas (mud) and arilitas (sand); the whitish colouring is due to quartzose, sandstone and marls, rich in calcium carbonate; the red is due to claystones (iron) and clays belonging to the Upper Tertiary period; the green is due to phyllites and clays rich in ferro magnesian; the earthy brown is a product of fanglomerate composed of rock with magnesium belonging to the Quaternary period; and the mustard yellow color comes from the calcareous sandstones rich in sulphurous minerals.

 

for more information - Official Website