Cross Pass
Cross Pass is the most extreme, picturesque and extraordinary segment of the Georgian Military Road, which is an artery connecting Tbilisi and Vladikavkaz. Following through the Cross Pass, travelers cross the Main Caucasus Range, which divides this mountainous region into Pre-Caucasus and Transcaucasus. The geographical saddle of the pass is at an altitude of 2379 meters, the road, laid on the slope of the gorge, goes a little higher: the height of the pass point on the route is 2395 meters.
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Video: Cross Pass
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Highlights
It is generally believed that the Cross Pass – or Jvari Pass, as it is commonly said in Georgia – owes its name to a stone cross, which was erected by the roadside in 1824 as a good sign and marker for travelers. Another name of the pass is “Gadauri Pass”. It was given to the ski resort village of Gadauri, the nearest settlement to the pass, located 6 km to the south-east. The section of the Georgian Military Road leading through the pass connects the valleys of the Terek River, which carries its waters to the Caspian Sea, and the Aragvi, a left tributary of the Kura River.
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From late November to early spring, during heavy snowfalls or icy conditions, traffic jams occur on this most capricious section of the road, and sometimes the highway is blocked. However, in good weather and in the absence of traffic jams overcoming the pass takes only 20 minutes. Tourists who find themselves here, right under the clouds, have a tempting opportunity to admire stunning landscapes, incredible mountain landscapes, to get acquainted with a number of historical sights of Georgia.
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History of Cross Pass
The Georgian Military Road follows a historical route known as far back as the ancient Greeks. In his notes on Iberia, the ancient historian and geographer Strabo called this route, leading through the Daryal Gorge, thorny and dangerous. For a long time it was called the Daryal road and was used both for commercial and military purposes. After 1783, when the Treaty of St. George was signed on the protectorate of the Russian Empire over the Kartli-Kakheti kingdom, the Russian military department began to create a reliable road surface, improvement and expansion of this highway. Already in 1814, the first horse-drawn carriages – passenger and mail carriages – began to run here.
There were 11 stations along the route, including in the villages of Kobi and Gadauri, located on both sides of the Cross Pass. On the outskirts of the ski resort Gadauri even today stands a lonely house of the XIX century, built of tufa in neoclassical style. The building conditionally marked the beginning of the pass, served as a post office and a modest hotel, where travelers had the opportunity to rest, change horses.
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In 1824 a cross was erected on the pass. Now it can be seen to the east of the modern highway – where the roadbed ran until 1863. It was probably not the only cross. According to legend, even before our era, the Persian king Cyrus I, who set out to conquer Southern Scythia, ordered to erect a cross on the pass to crucify the unruly leaders of the Scythians on it. In the XI century, under the Georgian ruler David IV the Builder, it was either restored or a new one was erected. The cross, dating back to 1824, is called Ermolov’s Cross. The inscription on the pedestal says that it was erected in the name of this general.
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In 1863 the Military-Gruzinsky road was highwayized and widened again, and at the beginning of the last century cars began to drive along it. In the last 15 years, the highway has been actively developed infrastructurally; in 2019, the Georgian government approved a project to rebuild a 13-kilometer stretch of the road through the Cross Pass. The winning bidder, China Railway 23rd Bureau Group Co. plans to lay a new two-lane asphalt-concrete highway with 6 bridges and 5 tunnels, including a 9-kilometer tunnel with a diameter of 15 meters. The work is expected to be completed in 2024.
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Interesting places
The beginning of the road section leading to the Cross Pass from the side of Tbilisi is located on the outskirts of the ski resort village of Gadauri. It is located at an altitude of 2150 meters, being the highest settlement along the entire Georgian Military Road.
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This resort is well known to lovers of paragliding and high-speed skiing, snowmobiling.
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At 4 km from the historic building of the former hotel-post office, on the way to the pass, there is a famous landmark – the Arch of Friendship of Peoples. It is a monument of Soviet architecture, decorated with a mosaic of 1217 tiles. The arch, located at an altitude of 2384 meters, serves as an excellent panoramic platform offering views of the Devil’s Valley, cut through by the Aragvi River.
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Continuing up the highway, you will find yourself at a stone obelisk set by the roadside. It marks the height of the pass point on the highway – 2395 meters. A little above the obelisk you can see a cross, but not the cross of Yermolov, but a modern one. To see the cross, erected in 1824, you need to drive about half a kilometer along the country road going to the east. Behind the obelisk is a small cemetery where German prisoners of war from the Second World War are buried. This place is also marked by crosses.
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From the Krestovy Pass the surrounding mountains – Krestovaya, Krasnaya, Chernaya, as well as the Kelskoe Plateau with its extinct volcanoes – are wonderfully visible. Each of the volcanoes has perfectly preserved its picturesque pointed cones.
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Further the road presses on to the Baidar Gorge and descends downward, rushing to the valley of the Terek River and the village of Kobi – this is the point of the beginning of the ascent to the Cross Pass from the other side. Kobi is nestled in the Trusovsky Gorge and is one of the oldest villages on the northern slopes of the Caucasus. Not far from it, on a rocky ledge at one of the tributaries of the Terek River, in ancient times there was a small fortress that served as a link in the system of signal towers. Today travelers can see the ruins of this citadel.
Practical information
The road from Gadauri to Kobi, which passes through the Cross Pass, is about 15 km long. There are no alternative passes where it would be possible to travel by car from Russia to Georgia in the mountains. Passes on the neighboring ridges are much higher, they are covered with snow for more than half a year and are not equipped with tracks. It is advisable for travelers to find out in advance about the congestion of the pass section of the Military-Georgian road. This can be done online. It is also worthwhile to familiarize yourself with the weather forecast, especially if the trip is planned in the winter months.
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Extremely hard frosts on the pass in winter do not happen, as well as sharp temperature changes. Usually the air temperature here ranges from -15 to 3 ° C. The coldest month is January, and in February it starts to warm up. The peak of summer heat falls on July-August, when the high-mountain air warms up almost to +20 °С. In summer, the temperature usually does not fall below +6 ° C.
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In the summertime overcoming the Cross Pass usually does not cause risks, without taking into account traffic jams, but in winter weather conditions can be unfavorable for the trip. Snowfalls, ice, and sometimes avalanches can become an obstacle. Avalanche galleries are installed on the route, but sometimes the highway still has to be closed, and for an indefinite period of time. Tourists should take into account: if the Cross Pass is closed, the access to Gadauri is usually blocked as well. It is unlikely that you will be able to wait at the resort until everything is resolved.
The snowiest month is December. Snow begins to melt actively in late March – early April, but can remain in some places and until May. During this period, motorists will need at least winter tires, and even better to get wheel chains that prevent sliding on ice.
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How to get there
Those wishing to visit the Cross Pass directly and learn how the historical cross looks like, can drive a car, take a shuttle bus or use cab services along this section of the Georgian Military Road. The distance between the mountain range and Tbilisi is 127 kilometers.
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Shuttle buses traveling in this direction depart from the capital’s bus station, located at the metro station “Didube”. You will need transportation going to Stepantsminda. On the way to this city, the shuttle bus stops in Gadauri and at the Cross Pass. You can choose the flight Tbilisi – Gadauri, get to the resort village for 9 GEL, and from there walk to the pass on foot or get there by marshrutka or cab. Up-to-date schedule is available at the bus station.
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Tourist bureaus in Tbilisi organize tours along the Georgian Military Road, including a visit to the Cross Pass. The cost of the tour starts from 70 GEL, depending on the route.
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Those wishing to admire the Cross Pass and its delightful surroundings from a height can use the cable car that connected Gadauri and Kobi in 2019. The cable car with cabins for 10 people has become not only a tourist attraction, but also an artery connecting the settlements in times when the highway through the pass is blocked. The cost of a round trip ticket is 30 GEL.
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