Discovery - DMC Georgia

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RTVELI Traditional harvest festivities in family circle belong to those distinctive Georgian traditions that still live. Despite the fact that nowadays young people prefer to live and work in the cities, in the fall many of them come to their ancestors’ land and grandparents’ homes to meet the whole family and take part in a ritual, which is almost as old as Georgia itself. You may wonder, what is special about harvest, while it’s a normal part of agricultural routine. However, considering how deep the roots of viticulture in Georgia are - 8000 years old tradition is a lot! - one can imagine the meaning of production and consumption of wine for all the Georgians. Taking care of vines requires a lot of effort - no wonder that there is a saying that one needs to shed one’s own sweat over the vineyard to get a good harvest. So rtveli, the harvest time in Georgia, is crowning the natural cycle and starts a new one. Every guest to Georgia can take part in rtveli - any vineyard owner is pleased by offered help and interest in the process of birth of wine. If you want to be involved into the ancient tradition, you should learn some special words for traditional tools related to winemaking. Godori - an oblong basket, to where one puts the picked grapes. Satsnakheli - a wooden tub, where the grapes are being pressed – people usually do it with their feet wearing special footwear. In Satsnakheli there is a hole, from which the juice flows into a special vessel. Qvevri – a clay vessel, where the grapes undergo the fermentation process. These egg-shaped amphoras are the birthplace of natural flavorful wine! Marani – a cellar, where qvevris are being buried, and the fermentation process goes on. Ready wine is also stored there because of the temperature level. From the harvest products not only wine is being produced. Grape pomace is a base for chacha, strong Georgian brandy, which warms you up if you are cold in winter. Pelamushi and churchkhela, natural Georgian

Tbilisi Architecture The architecture in the city is a mixture of local (Georgian), with strong influences of Byzantine, European/Russian (neo-classical), and Middle Eastern architectural styles. The oldest parts of town, including the Abanotubani, Avlabari, and to a certain extent the Sololaki districts clearly have a traditional Georgian architectural look with Middle Eastern influences. The areas of Tbilisi which were built up mainly in the 19th century (Rustaveli Avenue, Vera district, etc.) have a contrasting European/Russian (neoclassical) look. The start of the 20th century was marked with an architectural revival, notably, with an art nouveau style. With the establishment of the communist government the style was decreed as bourgeois and largely neglected

Rabati Fortress - Symbol of Tolerance! Built in the 13th century, Rabati castle developed under the influence of different cultures over subsequent centuries and this is reflected in its architecture. Within the 7 hectares castle complex there is a Church, a Mosque, a Minaret and a Synagogue. In the 13th-16th centuries the castle and its town of Akhaltsikhe had been the residence of the Jakely princes. During the following two centuries it was part of the Ottoman Empire and in 19th-20th centuries it became part of the Russian Empire. In 2012 there was held a large reconstruction after which Rabati fortress in Akhaltsikhe turned into a town within the town. It has become not only a historical monument, but a real cultural city center. There are church, mosque, synagogue, small park, History Museum, various shops, hotels and even civil registry office inside the fortress walls.

UPLISTSIKHE Located in Eastern Georgia, Uplistsikhe (literally “Lord’s Fortress“) is an abandoned rock-hewn town, which once have played an important role in Georgian history. The place was founded in the late Bronze Age, around 1000 BC, and continued to be inhabited until 13th century AD. Between the 6th century BC and the 11st century AD, Uplistsikhe was one of the most important political and religious centers of pre-Christian Kartli – one of the predecessors of the Georgian state. Archaeologists have unearthed numerous temples and findings relating to a sun goddess, worshiped prior to the arrival of Christianity. When Christianity arrived in Georgia, the city lost importance in favor of the new centers of Christian culture, most notably Mtskheta and Tbilisi. Nevertheless, life continued in Uplistsikhe, Christian structures have been built, and for a short time, Christianity and the old faith coexisted in the city. The cave town can be divided into a lower, a central and an upper area, covering an area of almost 40,000 square meters. The central area, which contains most of the rock-cut structures, is connected to the lower area by narrow tunnel. Most of the rock-cut structures are without any decorative elements, aside from some of the larger structures, which contain some stone carvings.

Day trip to Kazbegi Mountains 🗻 During the day you will visit amazing treasures of Georgian nature and history: ZHINVALI RESERVOIR Zhinvali, also Jinvali, is an artificial water reservoir located on the river Aragvi in Georgia. The dam has been built in 1986. In Medieval ages there was the one of most richest and luxury town in Georgia, which was drowned by Aragvi Sea. Lots of legends and treasures are hidden on the bottom of Zhinvali Lake. ANANURI FORTRESS Fortress was built by the Dukes of Aragvi and its earliest parts date from the 13th century and included on the UNESCO Tentative list. The fortress consist of two fortifications joined by a crenellated curtain wall. The upper fortification with a large square tower, known as Sheupovari, is well-preserved. The lower fortification, with a round tower, is mostly in ruins. BLACK AND WHITE ARAGVI RIVERS Confluence of two rivers, white and black Aragvi in village Pasanauri. Due to different mineralization and speed, two rivers stayed different even after joining. GUDAURI One of most popular ski resort in Georgia. Gudauri has more than 64 km of ski runs and 15 lifts. The bottom station of first ski lift called Pirveli is at 1,990 m above sea level and the top station of the last ski lift is at 3,279 m, called Sadzele. MONUMENT OF FRIENDSHIP The Russia–Georgia Friendship Monument or Treaty of Georgievsk Monument is a monument built in 1983 to celebrate the bicentennial of the Treaty of Georgievsk and the ongoing friendship between Soviet Soviet Georgia and Soviet Russia. The monument is a large round stone and concrete structure overlooking the Devil's Valley in the Caucasus mountains. Inside the monument is a large tile mural that spans the whole circumference of the structure and depicts scenes of Georgian and Russian history. JVARI PASS TRAVERTINES Jvari Pass Travertine Natural Monument is is located in Baidara River valley on the left bank of the road tunnel of the Kobi-Gudauri motorway at 2197 meters above

Gomismta is a mountainous summer resort in Guria, where sea and mountain weather merges together, and has natural curing effect. It is 2100-2755 meters from the sea level. The resort is surrounded by spruce and silver-fir tree forests, is rich with mineral waters, mineral and spa climate and other natural resources. Tourist season lasts only three months of Summer, just like in Bakhmaro. Unfortunately, there is no infrastructure in the resort, there is no electricity supply and piped water. The inhabitants take water from the nearby mountain’s springs. So, this is the main reason, where there is no washrooms in the cottages at Gomismta. At Gomismta there are typical, popular wooden cottages everywhere, just like in Bakhmaro, which you can rent. Gomismta is known as the kingdom of the clouds and the fog, which is caused by the humid climate. The tourists and holiday makers usually visit this mountain for this reason. They walk to the peak of the mountain, from where picturesque views are opened in front of their eyes, sometimes it is “the sun setting in the waves of the clouds”, sometime- “sun rising from the mist”. Such beauty can’t be expressed neither by camera, nor- by words. So, you should see that masterpiece of nature with your own eyes.

Tobavarchkhili The Silver Lake is located at 2,650m (8,694 ft) above sea level. It is a serene breakaway in the middle of immense and severe mountains. Hiking route to the Silver Lake starts in a tiny village – Mukhuri, in the mountains of Samegrelo, 300 km (186 mi) away from Tbilisi. Even if you have no experience in hiking, you could still handle the route to the Silver Lake. You should have the necessary equipment, be healthy enough, and have a strong will to walk the entire distance. According to legend, in ancient times giant Ochokochi was kidnapping the virgins form Lakadi. Lakadians could not resist to the violence of Giant for a long time. But once in village appeared kind giant, Aramkhutu, villagers asked for help. And in the next attack, Aramkhutu and Ochokoch started fighting. Aramkhutu was standing on the mountain Kvira, Ochokoch on Okhachkue and they started to throw a huge rocks. Finally, Aramkhutu wounded Ochokoch mortally. Ochokoch perform the last throw and injuried his arm. He washed his bloody arm in ake Tobavarchkhili and the water became clean and sacred, cause Aramkhutu was descendant of Gods! Thus, if someone puts a finger in the lake, or throws a stone, a terrible storm starts right that second even if the sky is blue without any clouds.

Niko Pirosmani - Nikala Niko Pirosmani is what Georgians are proud about, he was self educated artist, who invented new painting technique not only thanks to his great talent but also out of poverty. He is one of the outstanding primitivism painters in the World. But as it usually happenes to greatests - he lived and died in poverty, never recognized by his countrymen while he was alive. One of Pirosmani's pictures presents a young woman, and is signed -- "Actress Margarita". She was an inspiration for many romantic legends and poems. It is known that Margarita was french dancer. She came to Georgia in 1905 and met Niko Pirosmani. He was so charmed with her beauty, that gave her literally the sea of flowers. Georgian primitivist painter, orphaned at a young age, was characterized by the naïve, childlike simplicity of his subject matter and technique. He taught himself to paint as a child, creating his own oil for painting, and his specialty was painting directly onto black oil cloth. He was always poor, but willing to work, and as such he held many jobs throughout his life, including a herdsman and a railroad conductor. He also created signboards, co-founded a dairy farm, and held odd-jobs like house painting or white-washing buildings. Because of his destitute situation, he had little relationship with the profession of being an artist. As an example, he joined the Society of Georgian Painter, but developed a strained relationship with the society after one of the other artists drew an offensive caricature of him.

Sweet side of Georgian Cuisine 🇬🇪😋 Rich Georgian cuisine is full of mouthwatering dishes, but except for appetizers and main course it has some tempting desserts. Difficult pronouncing names like Churchkhela, Tklapi, Pelamushi etc. are extremely delicious Churchkhela - a traditional Georgian sweet, is made from walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, cleaned pumpkin seeds and various dried fruit strung on a thread. Usually it is made of grape juice. In the end of Rtveli or Harvest season when fruits are gathered, Georgians prepare for the new season of traditional sweets making. Tklapi - is a unique Georgian dessert consisting of cooked fruit puree that is poured on a tray in a very thin layer and left to dry in the sun for a few days. It is typically prepared with fruits such as wild plums, pears, mulberry, figs, or apples. Pelamushi - is a favorite Georgian dessert made mainly with pressed, condensed grape juice (badagi). Gozinaki - is made of caramelized nuts, usually walnuts, fried in honey, and served exclusively on New Year's Eve and Christmas. Nazuki - Sweet Georgian cinnamon bread with raisins. Tsandili/Kolio/Korkoti - is prepared with cereals with honey, raisins and walnuts. It is a traditional Georgian desert which was mainly cooked during Lent over the centuries and in some ways is a ritual dish prepared to commemorate the deceased. Bon Appetit!

Aragvi Rivers The "White Aragvi" flows from Gudauri down to the town of Pasanauri, where it is joined by the "Black Aragvi", the main river of Gudamakari. Together, these two rivers continue as, simply, "the Aragvi"; from Pasanauri, the Aragvi flows south-east to the Jinvali Reservoir, before flowing south to merge with the Mtkvari River by Mtskheta. There is very beautiful, but sad legend about it. Up in the mountains lived two sisters, They loved each other very much. One of them was with blond hair, another with dark hair. Both of them fell in love with brave knight. Knight Got married with the sister with blond hair. and then the brunette, in order not to interfere with the happiness of her beloved sister, rushed into a deep abyss. From her tears formed Black Aragvi. Unable to survive the death of her sister, the blonde also threw herself into the abyss, and her tears gave rise to White Aragvi. Both rivers - the White and the Black - as a symbol of boundless love united near the village of Pasanauri. At the village of Zhinvali, Pkhovi Aragvi also joined them - this knight, having learned about the terrible misfortune, also rushed to the abyss and turned into a river.

The Georgian alphabet is unique in the world: it is used only to write Georgian. To be precise, there are three Georgian alphabets: asomtavruli, nuskhuri and mkhedruli. The script used today is mkhedruli, which dates back to the 10th century; you will see the other two only in religious inscriptions and many Georgians cannot read them. Georgian is written from left to right, its alphabet is made of 33 letters, it has no upper or lower case, and uses punctuation marks you already know. Georgian has many difficulties, but spelling is not one of them: each letter represents one sound and conversely. The Georgian language first appeared in writing in about 430 AD in an inscription in a church in Palestine in an alphabet known as Asomtavruli. Before then the main written language used in Georgia was a form of Aramaic known as Armazuli. Georgian scripts were granted the national status of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia in Georgia in 2015 and inscribed on the UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists in 2016.

A bit about our Beautiful country Georgia 🇬🇪 Georgia is situated at the strategically important crossroads where Europe meets Asia. The country has a unique and ancient cultural heritage, and is famed for its traditions of hospitality and cuisine. The recorded history of Georgia dates back more than 4,000 years. The country is proud of the unique Georgian alphabet introduced in 5th century BC. Georgia is also one of the first world countries that adopted Christianity as the state religion in the first half of the 4th century. Over the centuries, Georgia has been a home for people of different cultural, ethnic and religious backgrounds. Georgia is famous for its stunning natural beauty. It has a great variety of climate zones, from Mediterranean to subtropical, as well as natural landscapes, both at the seaside and high mountains, deserts and vineyards, forests and glaciers. 🎥 Shermazana