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podcast transcript
Between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea lies one of the most complex places on Earth.
Towering mountains, ancient kingdoms, dozens of languages, competing empires and conflicts that still make headlines today all meet in the Caucasus, a region many people know only by name.
It is where Europe and Asia meet, a place of geographic isolation and diversity, and a place where ancient history remains relevant today.
Learn more about the Caucasus and why it has been important for thousands of years in this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
The Caucasus lies at the intersection of culture, geography and history. Located between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus has long served as a bridge and border between Europe and Asia.
The Caucasus Mountains form a formidable barrier to the southern wall of Europe. The Ural Mountains mark Europe’s official eastern border, but the jagged southern wall of the Caucasus is even more impressive.
The Caucasus, which is only 750 miles or 1,200 kilometers long (much shorter than the Ural Mountains), boasts Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Europe at 5,642 meters above sea level. From this summit you can see both Europe and Asia.
The North Caucasus includes the republics of Chechnya, Dagestan, and North Ossetia, while the South Caucasus consists of the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Türkiye.
There are very different climatic zones on each slope of the mountain range. The height of the mountains creates dramatic climatic differences throughout the region. Mountain ranges have historically prevented invasions and protected both sides from harsh weather.
The plains at the foot of the mountain ranges in the north have harsh and harsh winters, as they withstand the assault of arctic masses that cannot surmount their summits. Conversely, the South enjoys a much warmer and drier climate, sheltered from Arctic air.
Additionally, the western slopes of the Black Sea are wet and lush, while the eastern Caspian Sea lowlands remain dry and in the shadow of rain.
In addition to climate patterns, the Caucasus displays rugged terrain formed by the intense impact of the Arabian and Eurasian tectonic plates.
The world’s attention was focused on the Caucasus region during the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, a Russian resort located between the Black Sea and the peaks of the Western Caucasus. Sochi, a coastal city with a subtropical climate and no snow, presented a unique challenge for the Winter Olympics.
The solution to this dilemma was found in the region’s incredible geographic and climatic diversity. The indoor competition was held in Sochi, but the alpine competition was held just 30 miles away in Krasnaya Polyana.
Krasnaya Polyana, located at an altitude of nearly 10,000 feet, provided the cold and heavy snowfall that the seaside city lacked. The winter leading up to the Olympics was unusually warm, but about 450,000 cubic meters of snow was stored in insulated blankets last winter in case the snowfall wasn’t enough.
The Alpine region of the Caucasus is described as follows. There are just no roads like in Switzerland. It is noteworthy that the Caucasus has eight peaks higher than Mt. Blanc, the highest peak in the Alps.
The area is also home to impressive river systems that have carved deep canyons, such as Sulak Canyon, which is much deeper than the Grand Canyon.
In addition to its outstanding climatic diversity, the region offers a very important location. One of the most famous landmarks in the Caucasus is Mount Ararat in Türkiye. This massive, nearly 17,000-foot active volcano was historically part of Armenia but was ceded to Türkiye after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.
Despite being now in Türkiye, Mount Ararat remains a national symbol of Armenia, towering over the Armenian capital Yerevan. Mount Ararat offers more than just spectacular scenery. This place is believed to be where Noah’s Ark stayed and has a long history. Because of its biblical significance, Mount Ararat has drawn a steady stream of pilgrims and explorers to its summit for thousands of years.
Mountains are also home to myths and legends from other cultures. In Greek mythology, the gods punished Prometheus in the Caucasus Mountains. Greek and Georgian chronicles place Prometheus’ punishment at Mount Kazbek in modern-day Georgia.
For the ancient Greeks, the Caucasus symbolized the end of the world. According to Greek legend, Prometheus was bound and chained near a cave in the Caucasus Mountains, where he was greeted every day by a huge eagle, which flew in and tore out his liver, but was reborn every day and suffered the same pain forever.
The mystery surrounding the area deepened in 1983 with the discovery of an ancient chain in the Kumistavi Cave on Mount Kazbek. Although it is not the only cave in the area claimed to be a site of mythical torture, it inspired the Georgian government to rename the Prometheus Cave.
Prometheus was not the only Greek legend associated with the Caucasus. In the epic poem Jason and the Golden Fleece, Jason and the Argonauts are taken to the ancient kingdom of Colchis on an impossible quest. Colchis, possessor of the famous Golden Fleece, had to claim it from Jason in order to regain his rights to his father’s kingdom.
Colchis, located in modern-day Georgia, felt like the edge of the world to the Greeks.
Contrary to Greek perception, the Caucasus has always served as a bridge between East and West. According to British historian Peter Frankopan, the Caucasus served as the central nervous system for world trade.
From the origins of the Silk Road, empires recognized the region as an important core controlling the flow of goods. The southern terminus of the Silk Road passed through Persia, which was under constant siege from neighboring empires.
In an effort to overthrow Persia’s trade dominance, the Roman Emperor Trajan considered the Caucasus so important that in 113 he began a campaign to dominate it.
As Peter Frankopan points out, Rome needed to control the Caucasus to dominate the world. Doing so involved moving against Persia, which became a common concern for the rulers. A grandiose plan was developed to extend the borders of the empire deep into Persian territory to a mountain pass known as the Caspian Gates. Rome needed to control the heart of the world.
The peaks provided ample protection from the bandits who plagued the wide expanses along the route, making it a popular location for Silk Road caravanserai.
The Byzantine Empire also coveted the Caucasus. During the reign of Emperor Justinian, the Byzantine Empire was constantly at war with the Sasanian Persian Empire. To bypass the Persian world and avoid soaring taxes, Justinian sought a new route through the Caspian Sea region.
Justinian built on the foundations of his earlier empire, fortifying the Caspian Gates, a massive stone barrier designed to protect Byzantine trade interests and secure the Caucasus as a key terminus on the Silk Road.
The area surrounding Azerbaijan has become a commercial hub with dozens of caravanseres within a half-day’s walk. Azerbaijan, located near the Caspian Sea, was a safe and secure trade hub with routes such as the Baku-Sheki route where merchants unloaded their goods and transported them by land.
This area also became a center of silk production, as it stopped importing silk from China and began producing it itself. For over a millennium, a vast network of ancient underground canals, the qanat, transformed the arid landscape into mulberry groves, providing food for silkworms originally smuggled from China.
At its peak during the Safavid era, the region, especially the Sheki center in Azerbaijan, was a major supplier of silk to southwestern Asia and Europe.
In addition to playing an important role in Silk Road trade, the Caucasus was also a major cultural center. This region became a linguistic center and an important fault line in the spread of faith.
Modern linguists call the Caucasus the ‘Linguistic Mountain’ because of its linguistic diversity. Linguists now point to the mountain as a potential cradle of the Indo-European mother tongue, the ancestor of languages ranging from English and Spanish to Hindi and Persian.
The region’s rugged terrain has allowed more than 50 different ethnic groups to thrive in the secluded valley.
Historian Norman Davies commented on the region’s unique ethnic diversity: The Caucasus is not a border between two worlds, but a world in itself.
The region’s connections with East and West made it an important religious center. While there is historical debate about who the founder of Zoroastrianism was, there is no debate about the importance of the Caucasus to the religion.
The Caucasus boasts one of the most surreal natural phenomena on Earth. This is a phenomenon in which gas leaking from underground ignites into an eternal flame and explodes directly on the Earth.
While traveling through the area, Marco Polo was surprised to see what he called “oil springs.” Zoroastrians consider fire a symbol of purity and the goodness of Ahura Mazda. Pilgrims from India, Persia and Central Asia flock to the Caucasus to enjoy this naturally occurring fire temple.
Over time, devout followers transformed these natural wonders into temples of formal worship. Baku’s Ateshga Mosque, located in Azerbaijan, is a testament to the region’s religious significance.
The temple dates back to the 1600s, and a fire caused by escaping methane gas continued to burn until 1969, when it was extinguished after extensive excavation in the area.
The site became a base for Silk Road pilgrims, attracting Hindus, Sikhs and Zoroastrians to nearby caravansara.
Silk Road travelers in the region enjoyed one of the region’s fundamental contributions: wine. There is some evidence to suggest that the area may have been home to the world’s first brewers, as the history of the craft dates back more than 8,000 years.
Historically, the Caucasus has been defined by complex politics. Its proximity to important trade routes and its location between dominant empires made the region a strategic buffer zone. This role began early in the Greco-Persian conflict and continued until the period of the Islamic Caliphate.
Our complex relationship with Russia has also evolved over the past several hundred years. Initially seen as a key region in Russia’s efforts to control the warm ports of the Black Sea, Russian control has challenged the region’s development for centuries.
The invention of the internal combustion engine and the discovery of the region’s vast oil reserves in the late 19th century made the region a coveted location even during world conflicts. Hitler’s Operation Edelweiss sought not only to crush the Soviet Union but also to gain control of Azerbaijan’s vast oil fields.
The value of the region’s oil is still evident today. Buried deep in the Caucasus, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline serves as a steel artery spanning thousands of miles, pumping a million barrels of oil toward Turkey every day.
The Caucasus is a reminder that some of the world’s most important places are not always the largest or friendliest.
It has been a crossroads of empires, an incubator for new religions and an important trade route for thousands of years. Even today, the Caucasus is more strategically important and culturally rich than ever, proving that this rugged corner of the world has always been far more important than its size would suggest.
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