Trans-Caucasia

The ice is melting between Turkey and Armenia. As another significant step in the normalization process, a decision was made to facilitate the visa application process for holders of diplomatic, special, and service passports, granting the opportunity to travel to Armenia with a free electronic visa for a 21-day stay starting from January 1, 2026. Holders of ordinary (maroon) passports, however, are required to obtain a paid visa or electronic visa (e-visa). The e-visa can be obtained quickly and easily online. 

While the world is shaken by warmongers, it is heartening to see relations between the two neighboring countries beginning to soften after decades of tension. Another piece of good news regarding this came from Turkish Airlines. Turkey's flag carrier will begin direct flights to Armenia as of March 2026. It is not the first airline to resume air travel between the two countries. For several years, Pegasus Airlines from Turkey and FlyOne from Armenia have been operating between the two countries, but the addition of Turkish Airlines is significant both as another concrete step for the normalization process between the two countries and, of course, in terms of improving mutual travel opportunities. 

Today, leaving the political side aside, let's take a look at the geography from the perspective of travel and tourism.

Armenia is one of the three countries in the South Caucasus, along with Georgia and Azerbaijan. The famous Polish traveler Jan Potecki defines the Caucasus as the "Cradle of Civilizations" by including it within Anatolia, and this mysterious geography behind the misty mountain ranges decorates the dreams of many travelers. So much so that Trans-Caucasia became the route for many orientalist adventurers, from the renowned 19th-century travel writer Madam Carla Serena to the German explorer Julius Klaproth. 

In the Footsteps of Madam Carla Serena:

One of the first explorers to pursue this precious jewel right next to us is Madam Carla Serena, a Belgian-born writer and traveler. Carla Serena (1824–1884), who is almost forgotten today, was one of the most remarkable travel writers of her time; she was a French intellectual who transcended both geographical and social boundaries and left behind narratives that still resonate for modern travelers seeking meaning beyond postcard views.

Born in France, Serena lived in an era when travel writing was mostly dominated by men such as soldiers, diplomats, or colonial administrators. Their narratives focused on expeditions, treaties, and the "exotic." Serena's approach was different. Traveling largely independently, Serena paid attention not to power but to people, and to kitchens as much as to castles. Her travels took her to Eastern Europe, Russia, and the Caucasus; Western Europe viewed these regions with suspicion or romantic fantasy. Serena rejected both. She observed carefully, asked questions, and listened; especially to women, whose lives were invisible in most travelogues of the period.

In the 19th century, when most European women were not expected to travel further than the salon or the seaside, Madam Carla Serena packed her notebooks and went to the Caucasus, a land wounded by war, displacement, and imperial ambitions. She did not go to conquer, transform, or classify. She went to see, to explore.

The First Woman to Embark on a Caucasus Exploration Trip:

In addition to being the first female traveler to embark on an exploration trip to the Caucasus, her journey to the Caucasus, which she began in 1875, is a surprising trip for a period when Western travelers were not accustomed to such conditions, especially regarding food, hygiene, and personal safety for women. Madam Carla's brave and extraordinary trips to the Caucasus are groundbreaking not only for their ethnographic and artistic sensitivity but also for exploring a world that was just beginning to emerge on the European horizon. The explorer, who crossed the mountains and valleys of the Caucasus, met with peasants, innkeepers, princesses, and governors, and by offering fascinating details about the wide spectrum of life among the Georgians, Armenians, Greeks, and Tatars living in these small and relatively unexplored lands of the Russian Empire, made it possible to create a remarkable record of the architecture, nature, geography, people, and traditions of the Caucasus in the 1800s. 

Her most important work, Mon voyage en Circassie (1877), documents her journey in Circassia, located in the northwest Caucasus near the Black Sea. The timing of her visit was crucial. Just a decade earlier, the region had been devastated by war with the Russian Empire, experiencing mass displacement and death. Instead of celebrating imperial "progress," Serena recorded what she saw: abandoned villages, displaced families, the silent presence of threatened cultural traditions. She wrote in a measured style, but her sympathy is clearly evident. Her Circassia is not a romantic wilderness or a conquered prize; it is a wounded homeland still full of memory and resistance.

Where the Maps End: The Unknowns of the Caucasus

In an age of over-tourism and staged experiences, Carla Serena offers a reminder of what travel writing can be: careful, ethical, and humane. And the Caucasus overcomes political obstacles and removes the border above the clouds. The land of eagles continues to keep its inaccessible valleys for travelers. Snow, stone, and silence remain unknown behind the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range. 

The Caucasus is a geography where empires collide. While languages, beliefs, and resistance have turned into lines on the foreheads of the Caucasian peoples, stone towers and ancient roads carry the memory of the Caucasus. The Caucasus is more than a geography. A home, a tea, a thousand stories... It is even believed that wine was discovered in the Caucasus. So much so that wine, music, and mountain villages are a lifestyle in the Caucasus. And guests are a command from God at Caucasian tables. 

It is possible to find numerous illustrations taken from Madam Carla Serena's own photographs and her Caucasus travel writings in the book titled "Excursions In The Caucasus, From The Black Sea To The Caspian Sea, 1875-1881," which has been translated from French to English. In the footsteps of an explorer, you can travel from the dazzling architecture of the Georgian kingdom to the oldest wine cellars and the unknown world of Armenia. Now, travel opportunities are also quite abundant. Doesn't it sound nice to take a look at Mount Ararat from the other side?