Stepantsminda (Kazbegi)

Stepantsminda, still widely called Kazbegi, is the main town of the Khevi region, at 1,740 m on the Tergi (Terek) River. It lies 157 km north of Tbilisi and about 12 km south of the Russian border. Above it rises Mount Kazbek (5,054 m), with Gergeti Trinity Church on a ridge in front of it. The town itself is plain, with a main square, shops, cafes and a growing number of guesthouses and hotels; the setting is the reason to come.

Stepantsminda is the base for most hikes in Kazbegi National Park: to Gergeti Trinity Church, the Gergeti Glacier, Gveleti Waterfall, and the Juta and Truso valleys. Drivers wait on the main square to take visitors to trailheads. The town also has a museum dedicated to the writer Alexander Kazbegi, who was born here. Spend at least one night: most day tours from Tbilisi only allow an hour or two at the church.

The town takes its name from Stepane, a monk said to have built a hermitage here. In the 19th century it was the seat of the Chopikashvili-Kazbegi family, local lords of Khevi, and it became widely known as Kazbegi. The name was made official in 1925 under Soviet rule and changed back to Stepantsminda in 2006. The writer Alexander Kazbegi, a grandson of the family, was born here in 1848.