Areda hotel. Patmos island. Goat trail. Altay. Siberia. Russia. 4K

0:00 What will we see today
1:00 Areda hotel
3:37 Patmos Island
6:44 Goat Trail
8:33 In the next video

The Areda-1 Hotel is located in a picturesque place, in the heart of the Altai Mountains, on the bank of the Kuba River, in the Areda gorge.

The nearest village, Chemal, is only 8 kilometers away.

We had a good rest, slept well, ate well and "alga"! Our guide, Alexey, often cheered us on with the word "alga"! That's what people say in Altai. It means "come on!" or "go ahead!".

The first stop on our route will be the island of Patmos and the Church of St. John the Theologian.

Patmos is a small, rocky island on the Katun River. Its name doesn't really fit with the surrounding landscape.

You see… this feeling is right. The island was named after the Greek island in the Aegean Sea, where the Romans exiled St. John after unsuccessful attempts to kill him with poison and boiling oil.
It was on the island of Patmos that the Apostle John wrote the last book of the Old Testament, known as the Revelations of John, also known as the Apocalypse.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end," says the Lord. "I was, I am, and I will be, the Almighty," he says.

There is also a legend that the Apostle had a vision on Patmos of two temples being built in his honor. One was here on this Greek island and the other was on the opposite side of the world.

In 1855, Archbishop Parthenius of Tomsk saw an ancient church named after St. John on the banks of the Katun River and a small island nearby. He remembered the vision and realized this was the place the Apostle spoke of.

Parthenius dedicated the island on the Katun to St. John, renamed it Patmos, and had the church moved there.

That's an interesting story! And, of course, you will agree with me that when you know the history of a place, you perceive what you see in a completely different light.

The temple is always busy with visitors. The old wooden church, attracts people on a spiritual level, not just believers.

Near the entrance, carved right into the rock, is a colorful nativity scene depicting the birth of Jesus Christ.

And on the steep slope of the island, a nun from a nearby convent has carved the figure of the Mother of God holding Jesus, right into the stone. Both the Virgin and the child have gilded haloes.

Then, like mountain goats, we followed a picturesque path along Beshpek Mountain and the Katun River, which is why the path is called Goat Path.

The goat trail is the shortest and most scenic route from Patmos Island to the Chemalskaya Hydroelectric Power Station.

From here, you can clearly see where the Chemal River flows into the Katun River. Look, the waters of the Chemal are darker than those of the Katun, and it is clearly visible.

There is also a legend about this place, which tells us how, in ancient times, Chemal, the brother, and Katun, his sister, argued about who had stronger water and who should rule the Altai land after their father, Altai.

They decided to settle the dispute in a fair fight, rushing down from the mountains to meet each other and see who would take the upper hand.

So they did, rushing towards each other like two powerful rivers, colliding in a fierce battle. But Katun turned out to be stronger, absorbing the dark waters of Chemal with her turquoise waters and taking away her brother's strength.

Videos about the Altay journey:

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[murtts]

A small wooden temple on the island of Patmos, nestled in the middle of the Katun River, is truly a sight to behold! And what a beautiful setting it is! 😍👍