Meet The Man Who Lives A Life On Top Of A 131ft Pillar

Dedicated: Maxime stands by the church on top of the Katskhi Pillar looking at the beautiful view. He has lived a life of virtual solitude on top of a pillar high above his Georgian monastry for 20 years

It takes a strong mind and a lot of willpower to become a monk and feel closer to God.

But one man has taken his devotion to new heights, literally.

Maxime Qavtaradze, a 59-year-old monk, has lived a life of virtual solitude on top of a pillar high above his Georgian monastry for 20 years.

When he wants to leave Katskhi Pillar, he spends 20 minutes getting down a 131ft ladder.

Supplies are winched up to him by his followers and he only comes down twice a week to pray with his followers.

But having worked as a crane operator before taking his orders in 1993, Maxime has always had a head for heights.

He said: 'It is up here in the silence that you can feel God's presence.'

His only visitors are priests and a group of troubled young men who are seeking solace in the monastry at the foot of the pillar.

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Support: Sergo Mikhelidze and a friend deliver lunch to Maxime at the top of the Katskhi Pillar by winch up supplies to the monk who has cut himself off from society

A photographer called Amos Chapple paid a visit to Stylite monk Maxime but was not at first allowed up onto the pillar.

Instead he had to spend four days taking part in seven hours of daily prayers including a four hour stint from 2am until sunrise.

When he finally was granted permission to scale the 'dicey' ladder to the top, he was worried that it might be too dark to get back down.

After making it to the top, Maxime told Amos that he became a monk after a stretch in prison and decided he wanted to make a change.

The monk slept in a fridge when he first moved to the top of the pillar, but now has a bed inside a cottage.

The Katskhi Pillar was used by stylites, Christians who lived on top of pillars to avoid worldly temptation until the 15th century when the practice was stopped following the Ottoman invasion of Georgia.

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