A Slight Detour: The Caucasus Mountains

 In Chapter 3 - Part 3, M. Douvry mentions something to his wife:

“Do you still remember, Jeanne,” he resumed abruptly, “of that day in the Caucasus when I was nearly killed?” 

Perhaps you're familiar with the Caucasus Mountains, but if not, then I'll give you a little info on the region and maybe figure out what M. Douvry, as an engineer, might have been doing in the region during the late 1800s and early 1900s.

If you haven't watched the embedded video from the last posting, then feel free to view it here to give you a sense of the immensity of the Caucasus Mountains. 

Mount Elbrus, (3,500m)

As indicated in the video, the Caucasus Mountains basically form the intersection of Asia and Europe, and include six countries: Russia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey and Iran, as they run from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. The range is divided in two, with the Greater Caucasus in the north and the Lesser Caucasus in the south. Mount Elbrus is often cited as the highest peak in Europe, superseding Mount Blanc in the Alps, although there is some debate as to whether it is truly considered to be located in Europe and not Asia.

The Caucasus have long been considered an important part of the Silk Road, which was an intricate network of Asian trade routes connecting eastern Asia to the West and even into Africa. Not only did these routes facilitate the movement of goods from one part of the world to the other, but cultural, political, and religious interactions happened as well. 

I won't get too deep into the whole history of the Caucasus Mountains, but I will address a question that crossed my mind that I'll explore a little: 

"What was M. Douvry doing in these mountains during this time period?"

I don't want to give anything away with what's coming up with the Douvrys and their struggles, but since M. Douvry is an engineer of sorts, I wondered what that meant for the early 1900s. As you'll see later on, M. Douvry will be asked to involve himself in a type of mining scheme. My best guess would be he was a type of mining engineer, overseeing different phases of mining operations, from exploration and initial discovery of minerals, to surveying and mine design and developing plans for production. Perhaps this is why he was nearly killed one day in the Caucuses.

In my next post, we'll finish out Chapter 3. As we go along you'll eventually see what this time in the Caucuses might have been all about!