[HN Gopher] Katskhi pillar in Georgia: One of the world's most i...
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       Katskhi pillar in Georgia: One of the world's most isolated
       churches
        
       Author : Tomte
       Score  : 62 points
       Date   : 2022-08-11 06:32 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cnn.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cnn.com)
        
       | quercusa wrote:
       | There are very similar formations in the Shenandoah Valley of
       | Virginia. Well worth a side trip from I-81. But no monks or
       | stylites to be seen.
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_Chimneys
       | 
       | https://gohikevirginia.com/natural-chimneys/
        
       | pyuser583 wrote:
       | Apparently the stylite tradition is still around.
        
       | isaak wrote:
       | For several monasteries perched on steep rock pillars check
       | Meteora in Central Greece
        
         | once_inc wrote:
         | For a very successful debut album on deep rock beats, check
         | Meteora by Linkin Park.
        
       | perihelions wrote:
       | - _" 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.[1]"_
       | 
       | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katskhi_pillar
       | 
       | Is that plausible, for medieval engineering? Are there other
       | examples like this?
        
         | CptFribble wrote:
         | According to Google, a typical chainmail hauberk could have as
         | many as 45,000 10mm rings - if we assume that 2cm rings are not
         | excessively more difficult to make than 10mm rings, then 45,000
         | 2cm rings linked end-to-end would stretch around 900m long.
         | 
         | Even assuming the chain didn't float in the air and instead
         | draped down the rock and along the ground, it would likely take
         | "only" 3-5 chainmail hauberks' worth of rings to cover the
         | distance.
         | 
         | It wouldn't be an easy task, but there were far more than 5
         | people in medieval times with full sets of chainmail armor, so
         | it's definitely not outside the realm of possibility.
        
           | onlyrealcuzzo wrote:
           | > it would likely take "only" 3-5 chainmail hauberks' worth
           | of rings to cover the distance.
           | 
           | It would take a lot more metal, though!
        
           | CGamesPlay wrote:
           | It feels like it would snap under its own weight well before
           | that, though, unless it was suspended from multiple points.
        
         | MichaelCollins wrote:
         | > _for medieval engineering? Are there other examples like
         | this?_
         | 
         | Nails. This single Roman fort in Scotland had nearly a million
         | iron nails, all of them hand made:
         | 
         | > _When it was excavated in the 1950s by Richmond, a large pit
         | was found in the summer of 1960 containing 875,400 complete
         | iron nails (Square shaft) ranging from 50-410 mm (2-16 in) plus
         | another 28 (round shaft nails) weighing 7 tons, together with
         | other iron objects, including cartwheel rims weighing a
         | combined total weight of ten tonnes (Inchtuthil Nails by "Roddy
         | Fraser")._
         | 
         | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchtuthil
         | 
         | That's just one fort in a remote frontier of the empire. They
         | were mass producing stuff like this, by hand.
        
       | smcl wrote:
       | I can highly recommend Georgia to visit, lovely place, friendly
       | people, amazing food, amazing wine.
        
         | 9991 wrote:
         | Unfortunately the cigarette smoking is out of control. If that
         | kind of thing bothers you, skip the whole country.
        
           | specproc wrote:
           | That's changed a bit in recent years. No more smoking inside,
           | but yeah, it's a tobacco loving place.
        
             | daniel-cussen wrote:
             | You know I count that as a plus. I can't possibly go back
             | to smoking, but enjoy it when others smoke, enjoy second-
             | hand smoke, am a smoker sympathizer, have romantic memories
             | of smoking, sometimes feel closeness to women while they
             | smoke.
             | 
             | But don't smoke myself. I also think cigarette companies--
             | especially American and British--should develop minimally-
             | addictive cigarettes, like with no cadmium, and actually
             | clean out the radiation from radium, which they're capable
             | of but didn't decide to do. Just more freedom in the
             | cigarette, the choice of whether to smoke or not for every
             | single item in the pack. More choice.
             | 
             | Georgia sounds perfect.
        
               | duskwuff wrote:
               | > minimally-addictive cigarettes, like with no cadmium,
               | and actually clean out the radiation from radium
               | 
               | I'm rather confused what you're proposing here. The
               | presence of cadmium has nothing to do with the addictive
               | properties of cigarettes, which are largely mediated by
               | nicotine.
               | 
               | As far as I'm aware, cigarettes do not generally contain
               | any meaningful amount of radium.
        
         | andwaal wrote:
         | Second this! Went there sking some years back, one of the most
         | remarkable and amazing places I have been. Resort of Gudauri
         | offers amazing skiing, with the possible do some short hikes to
         | do some world class offpist runs. Transitioned to other side of
         | the country to Mestia, equal amazing skiing but even more
         | amazing place.
        
           | smcl wrote:
           | Me and some friends are planning a skiing trip for winter and
           | were considering Italy, Slovakia and Austria (or just going
           | somewhere in Czech Rep). I never thought to consider Georgia,
           | though! Thanks for the tip, just checking it now :D
        
       | IceMetalPunk wrote:
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Please don't post flamebait to HN. Religious flamewar in
         | particular is the last thing we need here.
         | 
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
        
       | _-david-_ wrote:
       | If you are interested in remote churches here is a list of the
       | ones in Antarctica
       | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Antarctic_churches
        
       | kijin wrote:
       | If you're not particularly fond of Christian churches, there are
       | also loads of shrines and temples perched on top (or sticking out
       | of the side) of impressive cliffs and pillars in China.
       | 
       | https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hanging-temple-hengshan
       | 
       | https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2019/04/a-photo-visit-to-m...
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | Giorgi wrote:
       | As a Georgian might I add something: Unfortunately monk on that
       | pillar is fucking piece of shit, before church there was a
       | remnants of pre-Christianity worship (phallic pillars were
       | popular) of fertility up there, asking for archeological works,
       | but he either destroyed or removed artefacts completely.
       | 
       | Next to that pillar, there was rock climbing route sponsored by
       | government of Germany for Georgians, rock climbers worked for
       | years to install it - he fought them physically to remove it, by
       | his words - nothing should go higher than worshiping of his
       | imaginary gods.
       | 
       | So, yeah - while Georgia is super underrated religious people
       | like him ruin everything.
        
         | michaelsbradley wrote:
         | Christus vincit!
        
         | balentio wrote:
         | > before church there was a remnants of pre-Christianity
         | worship (phallic pillars were popular) of fertility up there,
         | asking for archeological works, but he either destroyed or
         | removed artefacts completely.
         | 
         | > nothing should go higher than worshiping of his imaginary
         | gods.
         | 
         | So he should leave the remnants of everyone else's imaginary
         | Gods? You can't really have it both ways here.
        
           | BazookaMusic wrote:
           | He shouldn't leave the remnants of everyone else's imaginary
           | gods. He should leave archeological artifacts intact so that
           | they can be studied and displayed.
           | 
           | By the same logic, should the monks of medieval times have
           | burnt texts from antiquity instead of copying them for
           | preservation?
        
         | specproc wrote:
         | gaixare
        
       | MichaelZuo wrote:
       | I'm surprised a rope and platform hoist was never added to move
       | supplies up.
        
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       (page generated 2022-08-13 23:01 UTC)