“Travel to the Caucasus” by Carla Serena

Abstract

Carla Serena (Caroline Hartog Mergentheim, 1820-1884) was one of the first European women travelers
to travel to Georgia between 1875-1877. In 1881, during her second trip, she took numerous photos, which, in 1883, were presented at a Fine Arts exhibition in Paris. Although the originals of the photos are still missing, Serena is still considered to be the first female photographer in Georgia. In 1880-1884, Carla Serena published
a series of articles about traveling in Georgia in the French magazine “Le Tour du Monde”. These articles are richly illustrated with engravings based on photographs taken by various photographers, including Serena herself. Here we present the translation of the first article into Georgian – “Journey to the Caucasus, from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea.” The article describes Serena's arrival in Georgia, different cities, local population, etc. It is important to note that Serena reported that while visiting the Bagrati Cathedral, she saw an
inscription mentioning the cathedral architect. The research revealed that this inscription was first published by the Swiss geologist and archaeologist Frédéric Dubois de Montpéreux, who traveled to Georgia in 1833-1834.
Later, in 1847-1848, French orientalist Marie-Félicité Brosset searched for the inscription but could not find it and considered it lost. To date this inscription is lost, therefore we assume that Serena did not see it and she completed her text according to the work of Dubois de Montpéreux.