Friday, September 02, 2011

Ishan





























Ishan is on a turn off on the road between Kars and Artvin. It's high above on top of a mountain in a high mountain oasis. The hills are so rugged and going up on a taxi it was hard to imagine that up there is a lush village where this gorgeous church stands. The custodian charged us 5 TL per person. I'm always happy to pay and happy to see a custodian. It means that someone is protecting the place from vandalism. He was proud to point out that the church was Georgian. I recently learned that there are descendants of Georgian people living in Eastern Turkey who has totally assimilated. This guy must have Georgian blood. It is built very similar to Osvank and set in a mulberry orchard. The setting was beautiful.

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