Woman hermit near Chechnya

The BBC features an article about a woman inadvertently becoming a hermit, called by the report “hermit queen.” “The woman who swapped home for a hut near Chechnya” relates the life of Devi Asmadiredja, of Indonesian descent, who lived in Germany as a nondescript housewife until her husband, of Chechen descent, evicted her from her home and his life, though at first pretending that she could study the Chechen language and return to teach it to him and their three children. She first went to Tbilisi, Georgia, then to remoter villages southward, without contacts or money. She quickly learned Georgian and Chechen. She lived alone in mountain huts and caves. But the people she encountered were often welcoming, and she was given a camera and now can sell her photos, and was invited to serve as a tourist guide, so that she is able to maintain herself.

URL: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30796537

Georgian stylite Fr. Maxime

Father Maxime

A Daily Mail article for Sept. 5, 2013 summarizes the efforts of Father Maxime to become a stylite atop a 100-foot rock outcrop in the Republic of  Georgia, the first since the end of Turkish occupation 600 years ago.  (This article updates two previous entries on this blog: https://hermitary.com/around/?cat=33.

Article headline and byline:

“Getting closer to God: Meet the monk who lives a life of virtual solitude on top of a 131ft pillar and has to have food winched up to him by his followers”

  • Maxime, a 59-year-old monk, lives on top of Katshki Pillar in Georgia
  • He has to scale a 131ft ladder if he wants to come down
  • Followers winch supplies up to him because he only leaves the pillar twice a week
  • Maxime decided to make a change in his life after a stint in prison

Spectacular photos and a link to the trailer of a documentary film, “Upon This Rock.”

URL: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2384040/Maxime-Meet-monk-lives-life-virtual-solitude-131ft-pillar.html

Georgia hilltop hermit

This brief (1 and a half minute) BBC video report, “Monk’s Search for Solitude on Georgia Hilltop,” describes 55-year old Orthodox monk Fr. Maxime Kavtaradze’s efforts to rebuild and move into a stark hilltop skete to live alone as a hermit.

A monk in a remote part of Georgia has decided to seek extra solitude on a rocky outcrop which will soon be completely cut off from civilisation.

URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11724007