Shoana Church

The Shoana Church is a 10th-century Christian cathedral on the southeastern slope of Mount Shoana, above the left bank of the Kuban River, seven kilometers from Karachayevsk. The three-apsed, three-aisled cross-domed building is about 13 meters long and high and almost nine meters wide. Its walls and columns bear inscriptions in Georgian, Armenian, Greek, and Arabic. The church is now cared for by the Alanian Christian Center and remains active, hosting liturgies, weddings, and baptisms while preserving its connection with the ancient Alanian diocese.

The eastern entrance is called the ‘door to nowhere’ because it opens directly above a steep drop, suggesting that a balcony or gallery may once have stood there. Until the 18th century, the church reportedly housed an old library whose fate remains unknown. A life-giving spring rises nearby on the rock, reached by a path almost hidden in the grass and overlooked by many visitors.