Georgia’s turbulent history

Georgia is sometimes called the balcony of Europe, because the border between Europe and Asia is not clearly defined until today. Geologically, both continents are even united on the Eurasian continental plate. Situated on the southern flank of the Great Caucasus, Georgia is still marked by political and ideological directional struggles.

Walking through the capital city of Tbilisi, one notices above all the numerous graffiti that position themselves against Russia and for Georgia’s rapprochement with Europe against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Overall, however, the city exudes a friendly welcoming culture. People from Russia, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine can almost only endure it here together at one table.

Today’s capital Tbilisi owes its name to the hot sulfur springs discovered by the Iberian king Vakhtang I in the 5th century, when a pheasant he had shot while hunting fell into them and was immediately boiled. In 5,000 years Persians, Mongols, Turks and Russians ruled Georgia, whose capital Tbilisi was completely destroyed 26 times. In the old town, among the many half-ruined buildings, one in particular stands out. The puppet theater named after it was built by Rezo Gabriadze since the 1990s from materials he found in dilapidated buildings. In doing so, he has made a statement against soulless modernization, and not just in his puppet plays for adults, which are still performed.

St. Nino as the “Enlightener of Georgia

A young woman convinced the Georgian king of Christianity in the 4th century through her healing skills. Christianity first spread in the Caucasus and became the state religion in Georgia, the second country after Armenia. Many churches in Georgia are dedicated to Saint Nino. In the Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi, Nino’s grapevine cross is venerated, still held together by her own hair.

Chronicle of Georgia

Outside the capital, on a hill overlooking Lake Tbilisi, artificially created as a water reservoir, stands a curious monument. The sculptor Zurab Zereteli began planning it in Soviet times, and in 1985 it was not yet completed, but its brute gigantomania was already visible from afar. What the many biblical motifs from the New Testament are supposed to have to do with the history of Georgia is hardly comprehensible from today’s perspective. After all, at the same time in Georgia many churches were converted by the Soviets into assembly halls, animal stables and prisons.

Today, many monuments from the Soviet era in Georgia lead an ambivalent existence. At a time when wars are being waged between countries formerly united under the umbrella of the Soviet Union, hero worship seems stale. And the position of the storyteller can also lead to the question of whether history really happened as it is portrayed. Many Georgians are disturbed by Zurab Tsereteli ‘s proximity to the political power circles in Moscow. They doubt that statements made with such force are any truer than the political opinions expressed on the walls of downtown buildings.

A multi-day trek through Tusheti focused our attention on the lives of people in this hard-to-reach border region of Georgia. Bonus point here that our Georgian guide studied history.