The participants on the trip were Birthe, a colleague from Carl Bro, Daniel from the Spanish company Eptisa (who is the contractor on our Kura project), Eka, Vlado and I.
We drove up along the Kura River (or Mtkvari, as it is called in Georgian), all te way surrounded by a very beautiful landscape.
The headline of out trip was “Doukhobors”. The Doukhobors are a Christian group of Russian origin. They rejected secular government, the Russian Orthodox priests, icons, all church ritual (they have no churches), the Bible as the supreme source of divine revelation, and the divinity of Jesus. Instead they believe in God's presence in every human being. Their pacifist beliefs and desire to avoid government interference in their life resulted in them being harshly repressed in Imperial Russia. They were be resettled in Russia's recently acquired Transcaucasian provinces, in Akhalkalaki district Georgia between 1841 and 1845, under tsar Nicholas I. Doukhobor villages with Russian names appeared in the area: Gorelovka, Rodionovka, Yefremovka, Orlovka, Spasskoye, Troitskoye, and Bogdanovka (now renamed Ninotsminda).
50 years later most of them moved to Canada. After the breakdown of the Soviet Union and first years of independence dominated by Georgian nationalism many left and are still leaving for Russia, so only 200 families are left.
We also visited Sapara Monastery, Khertvisi fortress and Vardzia cave monastery.
Sapara Monastery is situated in Lesser Caucasus in the south-western part of Georgia, nearby Akhaltsikhe town. The monastery was built in the 10th or 11th century.
The monastery starts to deteriorate in the 19th century when Georgia becomes a part of Russia. It was taken over by the Orthodox Church. The monastery was used for a summer piano camp during the Soviet era. Recently, it has been restored and several monks live in the complex, in cave dwellings.
Some fine frescoes have been preserved in the church interior.
The dominating building of the monastery grounds is St. Sabas´s Church that dates back to 13th and 14th centuries
A model of a church on top of the small church
The Smaller Caucasus in the area where the monastery is situated
Khertvisi fortress is one of the oldest fortresses in Georgia and was functional throughout the Georgian feudal period. The fortress was first build in the 2nd century BC. Khertvisi fortress is situated on the high rocky hill in the narrow canyon at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Paravani Rivers.
The nature and agricultural activity in the Doukhobors area were very fauvorable for storcks
A nice little girl in the Doukhobor village, we visited. The village showed clear sin of people moving – a lot of houses were in ruins
Typical Doukhobor house
We visited the house of an old Doukhobor teacher. Here we are informed about the traditional clothing of the Doukhobors
The highlands where the Doukhobor lived – and the few remaining still lives
Vardzia is a cave monastery dug into the side of the Erusheli Mountain. It was founded by Queen Tamar in 1185.
The monastery was constructed as protection from the Mongols, and consisted of over six thousand apartments in a thirteen story complex. The city included a church, a throne room, and a complex irrigation system watering terraced farmlands. The only access to the complex was through some well hidden tunnels near the Mtkvari River.
Fresco of Queen Tamar in the cave church
View over Mtkvari River from the cave town
No comments:
Post a Comment