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Experience In desperate circumstances people are often driven to perform feats of mythical proportions. In the late 1100s the medieval kingdom of Georgia was resisting the onslaught of the Mongol hordes, the most devastating force Europe had ever seen. Queen Tamar ordered the construction of this underground sanctuary in 1185, and the digging began, carving into the side of the Erusheli mountain, located in the south of the country near the town of Aspindza. When completed this underground fortress extended 13 levels and contained 6000 apartments, a throne room and a large church with an external bell tower. It is assumed that the only access to this stronghold was via a hidden tunnel whose entrance was near the banks of the Mtkvari river. The outside slope of the mountain was covered with fertile terraces, suitable for cultivation, for which an intricate system of irrigation was designed. With such defenses, natural and man made, the place must have been all but impregnable to human forces. Alas, the glorious days of Vardzia didn’t last for very long. Though safe from the Mongols, mother nature was a different story altogether. In 1283, only a century after its construction, a devastating earthquake literally ripped the place apart. The quake shattered the mountain slope and destroyed more than two-thirds of the city, exposing the hidden innards of the remainder. However despite this, a monastery community persisted until 1551 when it was raided and destroyed by Persian Sash Tahmasp. Since the end of Soviet rule Vardzia has again become a working monastery, with some caves inhabited by monks (and cordoned off to protect their privacy). About three hundred apartments and halls remain visitable and in some tunnels the old irrigation pipes still bring drinkable water. 10 • versant
Photo © Corinne Thrash versant.com • 11
Page 1: February 2017 Volume 15: Georgia A
Page 5: 06 Getting Your Bearings 08 Talk th
Page 8 and 9: Getting Your Bearings GEORGIA: Gett
Page 10 and 11: Language Talk the Talk: Georgian La
Page 17 and 18: THE GEORGIAN SUPRA Learning the del
Page 19 and 20: A tamada giving the opening toast a
Page 21 and 22: “To be a good tamada demands clos
Page 23 and 24: A ritualized toast-competition, cal
Page 25 and 26: them in this area on November 3rd.
Page 27 and 28: Putin’s face was graffitied on th
Page 29 and 30: “Repeating every day, day in and
Page 32 and 33: Photo © Corinne Thrash
Page 34 and 35: Culture Traditional winemaking vess
Page 38 and 39: Giorgi checks the modernized kvevri
Page 43 and 44: Roads wind by sharp cliffs to Mesti
Page 46: Photo © Corinne Thrash
Page 50: Photo © Corinne Thrash
Page 55 and 56: It’s one of Svaneti’s bitterswe
Page 58 and 59: Make Salt of the Earth In the mount
Page 60 and 61: From the Road Jack and Bebu By Stos
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