Kakheti

Variety of wines , wide range of wine cellars , endless lushes vineyards, charming Alazani Valley with a Great Caucasus towering above,  hospitality  and generosity  are the things people remember first of all about Kakheti .This part of Georgia presents […]

Variety of wines , wide range of wine cellars , endless lushes vineyards, charming Alazani Valley with a Great Caucasus towering above,  hospitality  and generosity  are the things people remember first of all about Kakheti .This part of Georgia presents many unforgettable moments and things nothing in return. The Georgians think that their country is a motherland of wine and that Kakheti is absolutely a distinguished part of Georgia  completely dominated by the cult of wine. Kakhetian peasants absorbed in annual agrarian cycle  are even-tempered. They appreciate their own labor and the labor of others. Here , each peasant has own a wine cellar where he produces own wine according to family tradition are using own receipt. Traditionally, the wine set in pitches buried in the ground.

Kakheti is an ancient historic name of the region. The territory beloniging to Kakheti always varied.  The region is situated in the South-East Georgia , was abutted on the Caucasus Range – these mountains are also called the Caucasus Kakheti. In the South, Kakheti neighbored with the Muslim world (Turkey, Azerbaijan ).  For many times Kakheti was seized by Persians as well as  region was in bad conditions, owing to endless raids carried by Lekis  tribes(Daghestani tribes).

In 17^th century Shah Abbas I exiles tense of thousands Kakhetian peasants to Persia and settled them in the province of Fereidan. Today, their descendants are called Fereidanian Georgians. They speak Georgian. Their informal speech has not changes since the 17^th century. It sounds archaic and beautiful.

Today, Kakheti is symbolically divided  into three parts : Gare Kakheti (Outer Kakheti) consists of Sagarejo, Kiziki  (Signagi  and Dedoplistskharo), and Shida Kakheti or Inner Kakheti , consisting of the regions of Akhmeta, Telavi, Gurjaani, Kvareli  and Lagodekhi. All these regions are situated next to the another along Alazani River.

Gare Kakheti  (Outer Kakheti)

Sagarejo, the center of Gare Kakheti , is situated  on the left bank of Iori River. This River is the main artery of this land. The Tsivi-Gombori Range is rested along the whole in Gare Kakheti. 90 per cent of this range are covered with forests. There are no rivers on the sloped of the range. Even springs occur rarely in this vicinity .Gombori’s hydrological network shows only in parched riverbed.

Part of Gombori Range belongs to the Mriamjvari Nature  Reserve that was established to protect the man-made cladotype forests such as Caucasian pine. Iori Plateaa is situated at a lower altitude. It has a peculiar beauty , but is a barren place and can be used for pasture only. The sparsely populated and treeless Iori Plateau is a typical semi-desert.  Here is situated a most special place in Georgia, the Davis Gareja Monastery . Davit was one among thirteen Assyrian monks who came to Georgia in 6^th century.

Davit-Gareja Monastery Complex is a very important place for Georgians. It is a ecclesiastical center where even the kings  of Georgia confessed to their sins .  in fact, the insensate red hills are full of life. It is a true paradise for birds. Each morning starts with the cackle of partridges, sounds of eagle-owls, jackals amnd chasing wolves can be  heard in the darkness of night .

There are several historical monuments  of exceptional importance  in Sagarejo region:Ninotsminda Monastery Complex of the 12^th century and Giorgitsminda Church are the most significant  among them.

KIZIKI

A  place  of the name “Kiziki”  first appears in 15^th century.  It’s a quit productive area situated  between two  main arteries,  the rivers Iori and Alazani.  It consists of two regions Signaghi and Dedoplistskaro.  This territory has been setteled by humans for a very long time. In 1970, a barrow was excavated near the village of Tsnori. Scientists dated it back to 2,400 -2,500 BC. In the same burial mound, a small golden statue of a lion  was found along with many other items.  It depicted on the Georgian five-lari bills and five-tetri coins and it’s the symbol of the National  Bank of Georgia.

Kizikians always represented the advanced guard of the king’s army. They had no masters and were free of feudal obligations and duties. It sufficed  the formation of their freedom-loving temper.

In the 18^th  centure ,  king Erekle II founded the city of Signaghi  in Kiziki. The sity was established at a place where caravan  routes crossed. Around the city,  the king built  the longest wall of Georgia. Signaghi  is the one of those  rare cities  the remained  almost unchanged.  In 2005 the city was reconstructed and converted into one of the most popular touristic destinations. Nowadays,  Signaghi is famous for 24\7 Wedding house .  For this is reason it got the name “ City of Love “.

In close vicinity of Signaghi ,  the nunnery of Bodbe houses the body of St.Nino who is the the greatest saints of Georgia .  She brought Christianity to the country and converted the first royal family King Miryan and Queen Nana in 4^th century. These days,   Bodbe Monstery considered one the most sacred places of Georgia , is visited by many pilgrims.

Kiziki is the motherland of Niko Pirosmani ,  who was Georgian painter ,  artist and genius.  Once can find his exhibition in Signaghi Museum.

From the edge of plateau once can see Vashlovani depression with its turpentine trees and light forestsof juniper. There is no other place in Georgia where  species of plants and landscape  vary as much . There are steppes and bush vegetation. Also , the territories of Vashlovani are distinguished with rare wild pistachio trees, and light forests, and bluestem- feather  grass steppes. Georgia’s most unexplored area.

There is a small mud volcano in Dedoplistskharo region near Dali Mount.

SHIDA KAKHETI (INNER KAKHETI)

The palace of the Chavchavadze princely family is situated in a beautiful park  of the village of Tsinandali.  The patron of Tsinandali, Aleksander Chavchavadze  planted the first park in Georgia. Chavchavadze was in officer in Russian army  and later became a general.  He took part in the war against Napoleon and other imperialistic wars. He was also the first in Georgia  to hire foreign tutors for his children.  He shipped the first piano and billiard equipment to Georgia. A.Chavchavadze arranged his patrimony according to those he had seen in Europe. Tsinandali turned into the cultural center of Georgia of those times.  Furthermore, A.Chavchavadze invited  viticulturist from Europe and was a pioneer of winemaking in accordance with European methods  of production and bottling.

Telavi is one of the most colorful, cultural and pleasant cities in Kakheti. Beside, Talavi was  the capital of the kingdom of Kakheti.  In the center  of the city , a fortress and the palace of King Erekle II are located.

The structure  of Kakhetian  villages is the same as it was centuries ago when the fear od attacks made people build their houses  close to one other.

Driving  the direction of Kvareli, one will be able to see the church of Gremi, built  in the 16^th  century , standing just  beside  the road .

The Nekresi Monastery  was built in the 6^th century by Abibos Nekresi who was also  one  of the 13 Assyrian monks in the Kvareli region. The monastery stands on a steep, wooded slope.

The old and the new Shuamta are very close to Telavi. They include a cobblestone basilica built in the 5th century, a domed church and a brick church built in 16^th century.

Erected in Alazavi Valley , the white temple of Alaverdi monastery (11^th C.)is the most impressive among the historical monuments of Kakheti.  The annual festival  of Alaverdoba , dedicated to harvesting, begins  at the end of September and is held  during three weekends. Thousand of people from the whole of  Kakheti  gather  for Alaverdoba.  Even Azerbaijanians, Kistsi and Lezgins  who are Muslims  and live in Kakheti come to attend Alaverdoba and light candles in the Christian temple.

Lagodekhi Protected Area  is one of the first Natioanl Parks in the entire Caucasus,  Lagodekhi is a wild, untamed area rich  with biodiversity. A feast for natural lovers, it has preserved forests, glacial lakes. Waterfalls,  deep valleys, and access to a wide variety of Kakheti’s wildlife.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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