Mount Kazbek

Mount Kazbek

Mount Kazbek, mountain in northern Georgia. One of the country’s highest peaks, Mount Kazbek attains an elevation of 16,512 feet (5,033 meters). It is an extinct volcano with a double conical form and lava flows up to 1,000 feet (300 meters) thick. It is covered by icefields from which rise the headstreams of the Terek River. The lower slopes are covered by alpine meadows. Kazbek has been celebrated in the poetry of Aleksandr Pushkin and Mikhail Lermontov.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Barbara A. Schreiber.