Mount Kazbek

Mount Kazbek

Mount Kazbek, also known as Mount Kazbegi, is a dormant stratovolcano and it is one of the largest mountains in the Caucasus, in Georgia, immediately south of the border with Russia. At 5,054 meters above sea level, Mount Kazbek is Eastern Georgia's highest mountain. After Mount Elbrus, Kazbegi is the second highest volcanic peak in the Caucasus. The summit is located just west of the town of Stepantsminda and is the most striking geographical feature of the territory. The last eruption of the mountain took place around 750 BC. Kazbek is located in the Khokh Mountains, a mountain chain that runs north of the Greater Caucasus and is intersected by the canyons of the Ardon and Terek Rivers. The Georgian Military Road passes through the 2,378 m high Darial Pass at its eastern foot. The region is tectonically very active, with many small earthquakes happening at frequent periods. The mountain is also surrounded by an active geothermal or hot spring system. Mt. Kazbek is a potentially active volcano, formed of trachyte and encased in lava, in the shape of a twin cone with its base at an altitude of 1,770 meters. Because of the steep nature of its slopes, the glaciers of Kazbek are not too large. Together, all Kazbek glaciers cover an area of 135 km2. The most famous glacier is Dyevdorak, which falls down the northeastern slope into a gorge with the same name and reaches an altitude of 2,295 meters. The area around Mount Kazbegi, which includes beech forests, subalpine forests and alpine meadows, was declared a nature reserve by the Soviet government in 1979. The most of the flora and fauna of the reserve are endemic in the Caucasus region.