ARMENIA

ARMENIA / ՀԱՅԱՍՏԱՆ.

Landscapes.
Garni Canyon.
First stamp in a set of 5, issued on 24.05.1993.
Face value: 0.40 Armenian rubles.
Design: Haroutiun Samuelian (b. 1947).
Printed by House of Questa.
Printing: Offset lithograpy.
Print: 100,000 copies.
Size: 32 x 63.5 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 215.
- Scott No. 452.
- StampWorld No. 241.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 268.
- Unificato No. 192.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 189.

The Garni Canyon (Armenian: Քարերի սիմֆոնիա) is situated in the Kotayk Province, on the Caucasus Mountains, 23 km (14.3 mi) east of Yerevan. Along the sides of the gorge are cliff walls of well-preserved basalt columns, carved out by the Azat River. This portion of the canyon is typically referred to as the "Symphony of the Stones". Near the gorge is the Geghard monastery.

GEORGIA

GEORGIA / საქართველო

EUROPA Issue.
Batsara-Babaneury Protected Areas.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 28.04.1999.
Face value: A (no face value).
Design: B. Koblianidze.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 180,000 copies.
Size: 28.5 x 42 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 312.
- Scott No. 210.
- StampWorld No. 308.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 299.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 224.

Batsara-Babaneuri Protected Areas is located in Kakheti, on territory of Akhmeta municipality. It was created in 2003 and includes Batsara-Babaneuri Nature Reserve and Ilto Managed Reserve.

- Batsara State Nature Reserve was first created in 1935. It is located in Pankisi Gorge; namely, in river Batsara Gorge at the right tributary of river Alazani, at an altitude of 700-2,000 m (2,295-6.560 ft) above sea level. In the middle part of Batsara gorge there are remains of tertiary relict dendroflora, almost 270 ha stands of yew forests. Such size of yew stand cannot be found anywhere in the world.

- Babanauri Nature Reserve was established relatively late, in 1961. It is located in eastern part of the Caucasus Mountain, near village lower Alvani, Babaneuri and Laliskure. Area is located at an altitude of 380-1,100 m (1,246-3,610 ft). The purpose of creation was to protect up to 240 ha zelkova stands, which is part of the Red List of Georgia.

- Ilto Managed Reserve includes the parts of the head of Ilto Valley, which extends up to 900-2000 m (2,950-6,560 ft). It borders Batsara Nature Reserve to the east. The purpose of establishment is to protect and restore precious wood species and characteristic fauna. Such birds as buzzard, hawk, sparrow-hawk, eagle and even bearded vulture rarely occur in the managed reserve; and the mammal species like hedgehogs, martens, rabbits, badgers, jackals, foxes, wolves, wild boar, bear, deer, lynx and chamois. 

GEORGIA

GEORGIA / საქართველო

EUROPA Issue.
Lagodekhy Reserve.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 28.04.1999.
Face value: B (no face value).
Design: B. Koblianidze.
Printed: Offset lithography.
Print: 180,000 copies.
Size: 28.5 x 42 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 313.
- Scott No. 211.
- StampWorld No. 309.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 300.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 223.

The Lagodekhy State Reserve (Georgian: ლაგოდეხის სახელმწიფო ნაკრძალი) is located in the Kakheti district, in north-eastern Georgia on the southern slopes of the Caucasus and border with Azerbaijan and Dagestan Republic (Russian Federation). The total area of the reserve is 24,451 ha (94.41 sq mi). Lagodekhy preserves a variety of rare local flora and fauna and was originally protected in 1912 by the Imperial Russian Geographical Society at the initiative of the Polish naturalist Ludwik Młokosiewicz. The major rivers flowing through the reserve are the Ninoskhevi, Lagodekhistskali and Matsimistskali; at the higher elevations there are glacial lakes, of which the largest is the Khala-Khel, on the Russian border.

SOVIET UNION

SOVIET UNION / СОЮЗ СОВЕТСКИХ СОЦИАЛИСТИЧЕСКИХ РЕСПУБЛИК.

International Mountaineers' Camps of USSR.
Mount Elbrus (Kabardino-Balkaria, Russian Federation).
Last stamp in a set of 5, issued on 05.09.1986.
Face value: 30 Soviet kopek.
Design: I. Kozlov.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 2,350,000 copies.
Size: 58 c 26 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 5639.
- Scott No. 5485.
- StampWorld No. 5436.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 5687.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 5339.
- Zagorski No. 5691.

Mount Elbrus (Russian: Эльбрус: Karachay-Balkar: Минги тау), a dormant volcano, rises 5,642 m (18,510 ft) above sea level. It is the highest and most prominent peak in Russia and Europe. It is situated in the western part of the Caucasus Mountains, in the Russian republic of Kabardino-Balkaria (southern Russian Federation), 100 kilometers from the Black Sea and 370 kilometers from the Caspian Sea. Elbrus is centered in the Prielbrusye National Park (Russian: Приэльбрусье национальный парк) and has two summits, both of which are dormant volcanic domes. The taller, western summit is 5,642 metres (18,510 ft); the eastern summit is 5,621 metres (18,442 ft). The eastern summit was first ascended on July 10, 1829 by Khillar Khachirov, and the western summit in 1874 by a British expedition led by Florence Crauford Grove. Mount Elbrus was formed more than 2.5 million years ago. The volcano was active in the Holocene, and according to the Global Volcanism Program, the last eruption took place about AD 50.

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Thanks to Kazimierz R. Leszczyński for his contribution (http://leszkarozdub.blogspot.com).

GEORGIA

GEORGIA / საქართველო

Mount Ushba (უშბა). 
Stamp issued on 01.06.2008 (dated 2007).
Face value: 30 Georgian tetri.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 50,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 38 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 555.
- Scott No. 435.
- StampWorld No. 551.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 525.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 442.

Ushba (Georgian, უშბა; Karachay-Balkar, Ужба) is one of the most notable peaks of the Caucasus Mountains. It is located in the Svaneti region of Georgia, just south of the border with the Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria (Russian Federation). The north peak reaches 4,710 m (15,450 ft), while the south peak measures 4,690 m (15,387 ft). The north peak was first climbed in 1888 by John Garford Cokklin and Ulrich Almer; the southern summit, in 1903 by a German and Swiss expedition led by B. Rickmer-Rickmers. In Georgian mythology, Ushba was thought to be the home of the hunting goddess Dali.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution (https://worldofstamp2.wordpress.com/).

SOVIET UNION

SOVIET UNION / СОЮЗ СОВЕТСКИХ СОЦИАЛИСТИЧЕСКИХ РЕСПУБЛИК.

Soviet Mountain Climbing.
Mount Kazbek (now in Georgia).
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 28.12.1964.
Face value: 6 kopek.
Design: N. Kruglov and E. Aniskin,
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 4,000,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 38 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 3003.
- Scott No. 2983.
- StampWorld No. 2794.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3078.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2900.
- Zagorski No. 3056.

Mount Kazbek (or Kazbegi; in Georgian, მყინვარწვერი (Mqinvartsveri, "Glacier Peak") is a dormant stratovolcano (although potentially active) located on the Khokh Range, which runs north of the Greater Caucasus, on the border with the Republic of North Ossetia (Russian Federation). It is the third-highest peak in Georgia and the second-highest volcanic summit in the Caucasus, after Mount Elbrus. Its altitude is 5,054 m (16,581 ft). The Terek River originates on one of his glaciers. The summit was first climbed in 1868 by the Englishmen Douglas Freshfield, Adolf Moore and Charles C. Tucker. This mountain is associated in Georgian folklore with Amirani, the local version of Prometheus, who was chained on the mountain as punishment for stealing fire from the gods to give to mortals. The area around Mount Kazbek was designated a nature reserve by the Soviet government in 1979.