EASTERN REGION

 

Kakhetia, the pearl of your visit

To become fully acquainted with Georgia, you may leave out many regions, but surely not Kakhetia with its shrines and uniqueness, and, of course, Alazani Valley with its vineyards. Therefore, we begin our journey with Udabno and a visit to the David Gareji complex - the legend and the sanctuary of Georgia, after which continue in Bodbe, where the Shrine of St. Nino equals in the value to the tomb of the Holy Sepulchre, and then move to the final stop of our one-day trip - the city of love, named Sighnakhi. We will see a beautiful town that overlooks the Alazani Valley with its vineyards and snow-covered chain of the Caucasus Mountains. We will climb the observation towers of one of the region’s most original, notorious, unusual buildings - Signakhi Fortress. Constructing the walls of the fortress would be difficult even with modern technology. To this day, a lot of questions regarding the reason and initial planning of the construction remain a mystery that’s yet to be solved.

Museum of Ethnography and the original great works of Niko Pirosmanishvili and Lado Gudiashvili shall tell us the tales of life, love, honor, pride, and everyday human happiness.

Legend about origins of the city, along with its history and architecture, will be intertwined with tasting Georgian wines of different kinds and brands, which are, to this day, made according to exclusively traditional, old-fashioned way.

 

In each country, there is something special for it to be associated with. In Azerbaijan it’s oil, in Ukraine - wheat, and for Georgia it’s, most assuredly, grapes. And, of course, the largest territory of growing grapes is Kakheti and its largest part - Alazani Valley, where more than 500 varieties of vine are cultivated, and another 300 lost ones are being restored. Not to see, not to try, not to taste wine made from those vines means simply not to feel Georgia. Therefore, we are traveling to Alazani Valley, visit Velistsikhe, Gurjaani, but, foremost, Kvareli. In Kvareli we invite you to a tour around the company that’s producing wine all according to the European technology and by the standards of the European Union – which is the second method of winemaking in Georgia (first being the traditional one, which we’ve experienced in Signakhi the other day). The next stop of our trip to Kakheti is Nekresi. The importance and greatness of this place for Georgia in the fighting against the invaders is simply not assessable.

Older generation will, probably, remember the famous Georgian brandies called Eniseli and Gremy. We will visit both of those places, but, first, make a stop at Gremy - the first capital of Kakheti kingdom, and take a look at the only remaining castle in the city. After that, we visit Tsinandali (Alexander Chavchavadze family manor), where one can learn about the great contribution of members of this family to Georgian culture, science, politics and history. This house-museum is close connected with such names as Pushkin, Lermontov, Alexander Dumas-Sr., Griboyedov, Shamil, Napoleon, several Russian tsars of the Romanov family and many others. Final destination of our magnificent and fascinating journey around Kakhetia is Telavi - the last capital of Kakheti kingdom, where we shall see the royal residence of Kakhetian kings - "Batonistsikhe", and then, passing through Gombori mountain pass, return to Tbilisi.