ABOUT GEORGIA - Culture

PRACTICAL INFORMATION

historical monuments

>35.000

In Georgia there are about 35,000 historical monuments.

On the examples of these monuments one can observe the whole evolutionary way of origin and development of cupola architecture, striking by its grandeur and monumentality, absence of superfluous massiveness.

OTHER INFORMATIONS

In Georgia there are about 35,000 historical monuments. On the examples of these monuments one can observe the whole evolutionary way of origin and development of cupola architecture, striking by its grandeur and monumentality, absence of superfluous massiveness.

Lovers of Architecture will already be aware of Georgia`s churches. On a compact groundplan they combine simple and efficient forms with attractive proportions and perfect harmony with their setting. The oldest dating from the 4th to 6th centuries, are basilicas derived from the law courts of Rome and Byzantium, a tradition transmitted via Syria and Asia Minor. These are relatively long straight buildings with a semi-circular apse at the east end for the altar and priest. In Georgia they take two forms: firstly triple-aisled with a common ceiling and no transepts, and then from the late 6th century a uniquely Georgian form known as the triple-naved basilica, which has longitudinal walls and doors rather then arches, and again no transepts. Bolnisi Sioni is the only survivor of the first type, with later and less pure forms at Anchiskhati and Urbinisi.

Domed churches derive from the form of eastern Georgian homes since the third or fourth millennium BC; from the 6th century AD these developed into cruciform church, with a central cupola at the center of a cross. In a cruciform church the central area becomes the liturgical focus of the church, under a dome that symbolizes the sphere of heaven. Again there are two types: firstly with a semi-circular apse at the east end and the other ends square (such as Samtsevrisi), and secondly the tetraconch form, with apses on all four arms of the cross. This developed fast around the turn of the 7th century, when the Jvari church at Mtskheta, with smaller chambers filling the spaces between the arms, became the prototype for many others such as Ateni Sioni, Dzveli-Shuamta, Martvili and Dranda. This architectural flowering was stopped by the Arab invasion in the second half of the 7th century; however the Georgian Renaissance brought a new climax in the 11th and 12th centuries, with much bigger churches such as Svetitskhoveli (Mtskheta), Bagrati (Kutaisi) and Alaverdi – they are certainly the sites that every tourist visiting Georgia must see. In these churches the interior seems unexpectedly large, since the compact proportions of the groundplan keep the volumes tightly packed. Monumental frescoes and paintings of the churches of this period are also unforgettably impressive.

Very popular are the places of Georgian kings and grand dukes, as well as the towns and monastery complexes carved in a rock: David-Gareji and Vardzia – located at the height of 1,300m.

old tbilisi 2Many of the churches are decorated with frescoes, which are also largely based on Byzantine traditions. Until the mid-9th century the church discouraged the painting of human images, and in the Great Iconoclasm of 726-843 all religious art other than images of the cross and symbolic birds and plants was destroyed. However, Byzantine art then entered a Golden Age, named after the ruling Macedonian dynasty, in which the development of the cruciform church was matched by the flowering of fresco and mosaic art. This was now organized thematically with Christ Pantocrater (Lord of All) in the central dome, the Virgin in the apse over the altar, and the Life of Christ and the saints painted elsewhere.

In the Greek tradition the figures portrayed in religious art were strongly modeled but unemotional, with a calm dignity and stern grandeur. However, Georgia was also marked by the much freer and more humanistic tradition of Antioch and Alexandria, in which figures were portrayed more naturalistically and with concern for their emotional impact. There are few ancient mosaics in Georgia, but fresco art reached its peak between the 11th century and the first half of the 13th century. The best are those preserved in the churches of Ateni Sioni, Kintsvisi, Timotesubani, and Ubisi; in the cave monasteries of Bertubani and Udabno (at David-Gareja) and Vardzia, as well as in Svaneti; others worth looking at are in the churches of Nekresi, Zemo Krikhi and Gelati.

Icons (religious images) were also produced of three types: silver, painted on wood, and combined (silver and painting), the silver surface of the icon being generally covered with gilt. The images of Christ, the Virgin and saints, followed the same stylistic patterns as frescos. The standard of metalwork in Georgia is amazing. Pirosmani Perhaps it`s unfortunate that Georgia`s best-known paintings are those of Pirosmani, as his charming naïf works have nearly hidden from foreign view the country`s many other fine artists. Many of these worked in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s and were well known at the time. Perhaps the best known was Elena Akhvlediani (1898-1975). She spent two years in Italy and three in Paris where she exhibited in the salon des Independents, before returning to Georgia in 1927. After a long and varied career, she was declared a People`s Artist of Georgia in 1960 and awarded the Rustaveli Prize in 1971. She had a wide range of styles, none especially challenging, and was the most romantic of the Georgian painters, with a great interest in traditional rural life. She also produced designs for theatre and films, and many illustrations for books, by Longfellow and Mark Twain among others, and for some children`s stories.

One of the famous artist is David Kakabadze(1889-1952), who first studied science at St. Petersburg and then changed his career and went to Paris for studing Art. Lado Gudiashvili (1896-1980) – well-known artist also lived in Paris for several years. He toed the party line during the Stalinist period, but also produced bitterly ironic graphics for private consumption.

Niko Pirosmani was born in 1862 and moved to Tbilisi when he was orphaned; he worked as a self- taught sign-painter earning drinks with his quirky portraits. He was `discovered` in 1912 by three artists down from Moscow on their holidays, but despite increased earnings his lifestyle did not change. He died in 1918. Only 200 of possibly 2,000 paintings survive.

There is also a strong tradition in Georgia of public art, most notably monumental sculpture.

mother-georgiaThe best known sculptor is Elguja Amashukeli, whose Mother Georgia(1958-63), King Vakhtang Gorgasali(1967) and Pirosmani(1975) in Tbilisi and King David the Builder(1995) in Kutaisi are all characterized by stylized monumentalism and muscularity. His contemporary Merab Merabishvili was responsible for the statue of Griboedev(1961) west of Saarbrucken Platz in Tbilisi, and of Irakli II in Telavi. A possible successor is Merab Berdzenishvili who created the statues of the poets Galaction Tabidze and David Guramishvili(1966) near Chavchavadze Ave.21 and of Paliashvili (1973) outside the Opera House, and of King David the Builder(1997) outside the hotel Iveria, all in Tbilisi. The `monstrous creations` of Zurab Tsereteli are impossible to avoid in Moscow – freakish iron reanimations of Russian folk tales and an enormous Peter the Great. Although he has a house with a very strange and wonderful garden in the hills outside Tbilisi, there is very little of his work to be seen in the city, except for the pyschedelic mosaic façade of the Israeli embassy (1977), and another on the Ortachala bus station (1973). His latest project was a 100m-high statue of Columbus to be erected in Puerto Rico.

A uniquely Georgian style of Theatre, stylized but emotionally powerful, has developed, which is rightly seen as one of its national treasures. Under great directors like Robert Sturua (who runs the Rustaveli Theatre in Tbilisi), this style is turned loose on foreign classics as much as on Georgian texts. Shakespeare is a particular favourite, with very successful world tours of plays such as Richard III, which oddly is seen as his greatest work.

GIFT, the Georgian International Festival of the Theatre, was founded in 1997 with a bravura publicity campaign and made a great impact, with many highly renowned international artists and companies appearing for next to nothing.

The Georgian National Ballet is usually abroad nowadays, thanks to a worldwide reputation for athleticism and spectacle, including sabre dances and knife-throwing. Georgians have many well-known classic ballet dancers such as Nino Ananiashvili, Irma Nioradze etc. who are very popular and famous in the world.

Georgia also had a highly successful cinema industry, based at the Gruzhia film studios in Tbilisi`s Digomi suburb. Sandro Akhmeteli worked with the Rustaveli Theatre from 1928 to 1935 before directing films to such effect that he now has a metro station named after him. operaKote Marjanishvili also worked at the Rustaveli, and the main square on the left bank of the Mtkvari is named after him. Sergei Paradjanov was born to an Armenian family in Tbilisi and lived in Kiev. He filmed quintessentially Georgian subjects such as The Surami Fortress. The successful biopic Pirosmani was directed by Eldar Shangelaia, son of the director Nikoloz Shengelaia and the actress Nato Vachnadze, after whom the Nato, the Georgian equivalent of the Oscar, is named; Eldar is now a deputy in Parliament, where another MP is Giga Lortkipanidze, also a film director.

The most successful Georgian film of recent years is Repentence (Monanieba; 1986, directed by Tenghiz Abuladze); it won six prizes. Temur Babluani`s The Sun of the Sleepless (1991) won a Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. The director Nana Jorjadze, meanwhile, earned an Oscar nomination for Chef in Love (with the French comic star Pierre Richard) in 1996 and was elected a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science; Otar Iosseliani is also now directing in France.

The classic work of Georgian literature is ,,The Knight in the Tiger`s Skin", by Shota Rustaveli, who was Queen Tamar`s treasurer; the writer Fitzroy Maclean described it as "a fine allegorical poem of great breadth of vision, harmoniously fusing the currents of neo-Platonist philosophy and eastern romance". It foreshadows the literature of courtly (Platonic) love of the European Renaissance, but was only translated into English after World War I by Marjory Wardrop.

In the 19th century there was a fine crop of romantic poets, led by Alexander Chavchavadze (1786-1846), a friend of the Russians Pushkin and Griboedov ( who married his daughter); others included Nikoloz Baratashvili(1817-1845) and Akaki Tsereteli (1840-1915).

Galaction Tabidze is the most popular of Georgia`s 20th-century poets, whose suicide in 1959 is still bitterly regretted. His cousin, also poet Titsian Tabidze was shot in the purge in 1937, he was a close friend of Boris Pasternak, who translated his work into English, and whose genuine love of Georgia probably helped save him in the purges; many of his translations of Georgian poetry were done in Tabidze`s flat on Griboedov kucha in Tbilisi.

GEORGIA


Flag	Coat of arms

Capital and largest city		Tbilisi
Official languages		Georgian
Spoken languages		71% Georgian 9% Russian 7% Armenian 6% Azerbaijani 7% other
Ethnic groups (2002)		83.8% Georgian 6.5% Azerbaijani 5.7% Armenian 1.5% Russian 2.5% others
Demonym		Georgian
Government		Unitary semi-presidential republic
Legislature		Parliament
Area		69,700 km² (120th) 26,911 sq mi
Population (2014)		4,935,880 (119th)
Currency		Lari (GEL)
Time zone		GET (UTC+4)
Drives on the		right
Calling code		+995
ISO 3166 code		GE
Internet TLD		.ge