We are exploring the main wine region of Georgia which is in the south-east and runs parallel to the Caucasus (with Russia on the other side and Azerbaijan an hour away). Traditionally, Georgian wine is made in qverebis which are buried underground:
To be honest, we aren’t keen on qverebi wines so the many hundreds of wineries in the region are not going to get our custom – though we did try to visit one which – we understood – used caves which had been built into the mountains as military tunnels. The winery provided blankets for the visit as it is 14 degrees C in the tunnels and Sue was very excited:
However, the ‘ten minutes’ waiting for the guide stretched to half an hour, so we left.
More fruitful was our pursuit of monasteries and churches – and we learnt a little about ecclesiastical architecture along the way. First, a monastery with a beautifully tended garden (by nuns) with a new church as well as an old, overlooking the view:
Then, in contrast, a really beautiful church reached through a path in the woods. It’s ‘the only double-domed church in Georgia’ and built in the eight century:
We also found another obscure church after driving along unmade roads in a village and being shouted at by some impatient man when we wanted to park in his driveway:
I know you’re all dying to know that it’s a sixth century tetraconch shape with a stack of rounded domes!
To balance all that antiquity, we visited a museum built by the ‘legendary’ Georgian architect Victor Jorbenadze in 1978 in memory of Ilia Chavchavadze who was responsible for translating the plays of Moliere and Gogol, amongst other achievements. Apparently he was declared a secular saint after his murder in 1907 by Tsarist or Bolshevik agents.
Our car, by the way, is the one on the left.
And finally, some Soviet art – we’re always suckers for such things. Last night, as we tramped around Sighnagi in the rain, we found this Soviet World War II memorial (which includes the image in the opening photo):
And later, we found this at the ex-bus station in a nearby town, completed in 1985:
Devastated by the undrinkability of the wine. Always thought Georgia was a top producer. The early churches are lovely – a bit Spanish? Especially the tetraconch one. And the opening picture of soviet art celebrating – if I’m not mistaken – you know, wine, is fab.
Well, we may be being a bit unfair about the wine but you have to search out the good stuff. A lot of it is home made and some has been undrinkable. The use of terracotta pots to ferment the wine gives it a distinct and, to my taste, odd quality. Hundreds of wineries though! And yes, lots of sculptures and friezes celebrating viniculture.
I too loved the 8th (and 6th?!) churches, probably still completely frescoed inside – thrilling to me that despite all the conflicts they can possibly be still standing even if heavily restored. War memorial is indeed weird – I can’t puzzle it out. How was the work inside the modern art gallery?
The churches are really lovely and mostly very peaceful and unvisited. Frescoes are actually few and far between – variously destroyed by the Ottomans or painted over by the communists. We didn’t go in the museum – it was either closed or looked it!
Sorry to hear about the wine. We were offered some last night so declined! Love the soviet art. Churches remind me of some I visited in Yugoslavia when it still existed.
See my reply to Alison about the wine – I don’t mean to insult their entire viniculture! I did have some white wine which made me think of J cloths however ( rather than, say, peaches). Agree about the Soviet art – we’ve seen some really marvellous monuments and friezes.
Translators all over the world must be rejoicing that at least one of their profession has been recognised and had an entire museum built in her honour. Never heard ofVictor Jorbenadze but he can also be credited with making a nice building so go, Victor!
We met a charming woman yesterday at a set of three very old churches and she told us how much Georgians loved their translations of Shakespeare and Donne ( she was a teacher). So, translators definitely an honoured group. The building was a complete surprise in an otherwise ordinary little town.
Ex bus station! I once gave a book of photos of soviet bus stops to a delighted friend. May still be available in the Welcome bookshop Euston Road…
Ah, the sheer glory of soviet bus stops! Those were the days – or at least the bus stops..