And it's not just about delicious food and wine, warm climate and beautiful nature. Georgia is, first of all, friendly people, unique culture and ancient history. This is a country where West and East, Europe and Asia harmoniously combine. Sunny Sakartvelo captivates its guests, makes them fall in love with them, and fills them with strength. I want to return there again and again. This is a place where everyone feels at home, surrounded by family and close friends.
Georgia also played its special role in Russian culture. It was a region where talented writers, poets, artists and musicians from all over Russia sought inspiration. We will talk about some of them in our material.
The life of Alexander Griboyedov was closely connected with Georgia. He for a long time lived and worked in Tiflis (present-day Tbilisi). It was in this city that he completed his famous comedy “Woe from Wit”. And here the first productions of his play were successfully staged. Georgian nobles, who had just begun to become acquainted with Russian culture and Russian literature, staged it on the stages of amateur home theaters. In the summer of 1828, Griboedov married Nina Chavchavadze, a Georgian princess, daughter of the outstanding romantic poet Alexander Chavchavadze. But they were destined to live together for only a few weeks. The poet was sent on a diplomatic mission to Persia, and six months later an angry crowd massacred the Russian embassy in Tehran.
Griboedov's body was taken to Tiflis and solemnly buried in the pantheon on Mount Mtatsminda. Over his grave, grief-stricken Nina erected a monument, the inscription on which reads: “Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory, but why did my love survive you!” Griboyedov's tombstone is still considered one of the main attractions of the city, and the Tbilisi Russian Drama Theater - the world's oldest Russian theater operating outside of Russia - is named after him.
Pushkin also visited Georgia. Alexander Sergeevich was passing by Tiflis when he was catching up with the regular army, which was going to war with Turkey in Western Armenia. Tired of the long journey along the Georgian Military Road, he decided to stop in the city for a few days to gain strength, and at the same time meet with his comrades from the lyceum (many of whom were in Tiflis in those years).
During these days, the poet managed to visit the famous sulfur baths of Abanotubani, take part in several noisy feasts, have plenty of walks along the winding city streets, and also observe life and morals local residents. He left his memories of Georgia in the story “Journey to Arzrum during the campaign of 1829.”
Perhaps the most famous Russian “Caucasian” writer was Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. Expelled from Russia for writing poems on the death of Pushkin, Lermontov ended up in the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment, which was stationed in the Caucasus in those years. The impressions of what he experienced and saw during his service in the regular army greatly affected his personality, turning him from a metropolitan rake into a lonely melancholic romantic.
The beauty of nature, the life of the highlanders and folklore: all this left its mark on him, and subsequently formed the basis for most of his works, many of which take place in Georgia (“Demon”, “Mtsyri”, etc.) . To this day, at the entrance to Tbilisi there is a monument to the great Russian romantic poet, for whom the Caucasus served as an inexhaustible source of inspiration, and Daryal, Mtskheta and Old Tiflis became his real creative homeland.
Shortly before joining the Caucasian Army, twenty-three-year-old Leo Tolstoy lived in Tiflis. Having settled in the house of a German colonist, he began to write his first literary work - the story “Childhood”. At the same time, he kept diaries, recording in them his thoughts and memories of the Georgian capital. It was during this period of his life that he realized that he wanted to become a professional writer. Subsequently, the experience of participating in Caucasian War and the impressions from his stay in Georgia formed the basis of the famous story “Hadji Murat”, as well as other works of the great Russian classic.
Vladimir and Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko
The Nemirovich-Danchenko brothers were born into the family of an officer in the city of Ozurgeti, Kutaisi province (now in Guria).
Vasily Ivanovich's childhood years were spent in a camp environment - he traveled a lot throughout Georgia, Azerbaijan and Dagestan. As the eldest son, he was ordered to follow in his father's footsteps and become a military man, so he was sent to study at Aleksandrovsky cadet corps in Moscow. He returned to Georgia only in 1876, when an uprising against the Turks was brewing in Adjara (the region neighboring his native Guria). His impressions of what he saw were reflected in the second part, “Under the Hot Sun.” The very next year, being a career officer imperial army, Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko took part in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877 - 1878, which was reflected in his famous book “Skobelev”.
The fate of his younger brother, Vladimir Ivanovich, turned out differently, whom his parents sent to study at the Tiflis gymnasium. As a high school student, he, together with his friend Alexander Sumbatov-Yuzhin ( real name Sumbatashvili) rented a small apartment on the outskirts of the city, where young people wrote their first plays and gave small performances for friends and acquaintances. Few could have imagined then that they would later become the greatest theatrical figures in Russia and Soviet Union, one of whom will be the founder of the Moscow Art Theater, and the other - the director of the Maly Theater.
In 1876, after graduating from high school with a silver medal, Vladimir Nemirovich-Danchenko went to Moscow to study to become a lawyer. His comrade remained in the Georgian capital, where in the same year he made his acting debut on the stage of one of the city theaters. Subsequently, the friends met in Moscow.
and Zinaida Gippius
In the summer of 1888, twenty-two-year-old Dmitry Merezhkovsky traveled around Georgia. Arriving in the resort town of Borjomi, he met with one of his acquaintances, who during the conversation showed him a photograph of the aspiring poetess Zinaida Gippius. Looking at her, Merezhkovsky exclaimed: “What a face!” But ironically, just a few days later, while walking along one of the city streets, he accidentally ran into an eighteen-year-old girl. She turned out to be just... Zinaida Gippius. Six months later they got married in Tiflis. And they lived together for 52 years, during which, according to Zinaida Nikolaevna, “they were not separated for a single day.” This strange meeting at one of the Georgian resorts marked the beginning of one of the strongest and most fruitful creative unions in Russian culture.
As part of his first “Walking in Rus',” Maxim Gorky also visited Georgia. It was this country that became his unique literary homeland. The young writer's first story (“Makar Chudra”) was published in Tiflis. This happened in 1892, when Gorky was working in the Transcaucasian workshops railways. Soon after this, the aspiring writer went to build the Black Sea highway in Abkhazia. On one of the deserted roads between Sukhumi and Ochamchire, he met a pregnant woman who suddenly went into labor. The writer had to deliver the child from her, biting the umbilical cord with his teeth. This episode from life formed the basis of the story “The Birth of Man,” and the obstetric feat of Peshkov (this is Gorky’s real name) was subsequently cast in bronze near the Kodori River.
After returning to Russia, Gorky kept remembering sunny Sakartvelo. During his life, he repeatedly came to Georgia, where he met with his friends and acquaintances. Together with them, taking part in traditional feasts, he sang Gurian and Kartli-Kakheti songs, which from his youth captivated him with their beauty and sensuality, and about the country itself with a smile on his face he said: “Georgia made me a writer from a vagabond.”
Mayakovsky was born into the family of a forester in the village of Bagdati, Kutaisi province (now a city in Imereti). Until he was nine years old, he practically did not speak Russian - only at home with his parents. He spent the rest of his time in the company of his Georgian peers. The situation was changed by his enrollment in the Kutaisi gymnasium, where teaching was conducted in Russian. But just four years after his admission, a misfortune occurred in his home - his father died from blood poisoning, accidentally pricking his finger with a needle.
After the death of the breadwinner, the mother decided to move to Moscow forever with her children. However, throughout his life, Mayakovsky repeatedly returned to his small homeland, where he had so many friends and acquaintances. The poet himself was proud of the fact that he was born in Georgia, and in some of his poems he even called himself a Georgian.
Boris Pasternak's first trip to Georgia took place in 1931, when he arrived in Tbilisi at the invitation of his friend, poet Paolo Yashvili. There he also met outstanding Georgian cultural figures - Titian Tabidze, Lado Gudiashvili, Nikoloz Mitsishvili, Simon Chikovani, Georgiy Leonidze and others. Their acquaintance grew into a close, long-term friendship, and Pasternak’s three-month stay in Georgia left a deep mark on his soul.
Fascinated by the culture and history of this country, he also became interested in its literature. Soon after returning to Russia, he enthusiastically began translating the works of Georgian classics. Among his most famous works are “Snake Eater” by Vazha Pshavela and the lyrics of Nikoloz Baratashvili. The poet’s friendship with famous representatives of Georgian art lasted almost 30 years, and Georgia itself became his second homeland, to which he returned several times throughout his life.
Georgia is a country with many legends. One of them says that when God distributed the earth among the peoples, the Georgians were busy with a feast on the occasion of the creation of the world. Having raised toasts, they still came. But it turned out that they were too late. Then the Georgians said: “Sorry, dear, we’re late: we drank to your health.” God thought and said: “I have saved a piece of land here for myself, but for your spontaneity and directness I am giving it to you! Remember that the land is very beautiful and incomparable to anything, and people will admire and admire it in all ages.” It happened as the Almighty said. For many centuries now, everyone has admired the beauty of a small but proud country.
Do you agree, an interesting legend? And how many of these you will hear during your trip to Georgia! Don't count!
But the number of facts in our article is limited. And all of them, believe me, are no less interesting than ancient myths.
1. Sakartvelo - this is what Georgians call their country. This word comes from the name of the people who lived on the territory of present-day Georgia - the Kartvels. The word "Georgia" came into our language in the 17th-18th centuries from the Arabic "Gurjistan".
2. In the Ancient World, Georgia and Spain were called the same - Iberia. And the language of the Basques (the people living in Spain) is very similar to Georgian.
3. Georgia adopted Christianity much earlier than Ukraine. Back in 319.
4. IN Georgian language There is no stress as such, only the tone rises on a certain syllable. Also in Georgian there are no capital letters, there is no masculine and feminine(it is determined by context).
5. In the Georgian language there are words with 8 consonants in a row -გვფრცქვნის (gvprtskvnis). But this is not even a “ceiling” - in the famous Georgian work “The Knight in the Tiger’s Skin” a word with 11 consonants in a row is used - ვეფხვთმბრდღვნელი and sounds like - vefhvtmbrdgvneli.
6. Before you pronounce a Georgian word, make sure it sounds correctly. After all, you can find yourself in a funny situation when one wrong sound radically changes the meaning of the word.
7. The Georgian language uses the base-20 system for naming numbers. To pronounce a number between 20 and 100, you need to divide it into twenties and say their number and remainder. For example: 33 is twenty-thirteen, and 78 is three-twenty-eighteen.
8. Even in the Georgian language, all known and native words sound like this: “mama” is dad, “deda” is mom, “bebia” is grandmother, “babua” or “papa” is grandfather.
9. The remains of the first representatives of the human race were found on the territory of Georgia. They were discovered in 1991 in Dmanisi and date back to approximately 1 million 770 thousand years ago. They were given the names Zezva and Mzia.
10. Russian is spoken mainly by older people in Georgia. Russian is unpopular among young people and has very limited use. In the mountains no one owns it at all. Now in the country, English is vying to become the second official language in Georgia; children learn it in schools from the first grade.
11. Georgia strives to become a tourist Mecca for the whole world. Therefore, all signs, information boards and tablets are made in Georgian and English languages, even turns to the smallest villages.
12. Time in Georgia is 2 hours ahead of Kiev winter period, and for 1 hour in the summer.
13. If you have drunk a lot while visiting and do not want to get behind the wheel of your car, then calmly call the police patrol, warning in advance that you do not want to create emergency situations on the road. In gratitude for this behavior, the police will take you and the car to your home. And it's all absolutely free.
14. In Georgian high-rise buildings, elevators with payment or a personal key are very often found. Elevators with payment - to go up, you need to put a certain number of coins into the mechanism. The descent is free.
15. One of the many attractions of Georgia is the laundry hanging from everywhere, which Georgians place not on the balcony, but outside it.
16. Don't be surprised if you see men kissing on the cheek in Georgia. After all, according to Georgian tradition, everyone kisses when they meet.
17. Not all houses in Georgia have central heating. In villages and small towns, people warm themselves using stoves.
18. Georgians do not take off their street shoes when visiting. If you do this, Georgians may take such a gesture as disrespect for the owners. It's even worse if you ask for room slippers.
19. The main person during a feast in Georgia is the toastmaster. According to custom, this is either the host himself, or he chooses a toastmaster from among the guests (a respected person). Please note that you cannot interrupt the toastmaster, his word is law!
20. Toasts in Georgia are sacred. No one has the right to drink a glass of wine unless a toast is made in turn by all the people (seniors) who are participating in the feast.
21. If you see Georgians eating meat with their hands, know that this is not due to bad upbringing and bad manners. In this country, shish kebab is eaten with hands, as if savoring it. This also applies to the national dish Khinkali. By eating them with cutlery, you risk not only looking stupid, but also, piercing the khinkali with a fork, losing the very essence of this dish.
22. A mandatory attribute of a Georgian feast is a plate of greens on the table. Cilantro, basil, tarragon, green onions - this is what Georgians love to eat with meat.
23. Family is sacred for a Georgian! They treat their parents and friends very carefully. And the father's word is the law.
24. In some regions of Georgia, the tradition of kidnapping brides has been preserved. This is only done at the mutual desire of the bride and groom.
25. Gun storage is allowed in Georgia.
26. In Georgia, it is impossible to refuse to come to a wedding, since this is a great offense for the inviting party, and it happens that this is where the long-term enmity of two families begins.
27. Georgians have a very interesting tradition - all women would like it. All relatives of the groom must present the bride with gold. And God forbid, someone forgets to do this.
28. Georgian funerals are a separate issue. This is a kind of duty of every true Georgian. In villages, all residents come to say goodbye to the deceased, bringing with them whatever they can: food, money, wine.
29.
Georgia is called the birthplace of wine: it is here that the oldest remains of wine jugs and grapevines have been found.
10 things you should never do in Georgia
30. Georgia has excellent hitchhiking: they will give you a lift where you need to go, then they will also feed you and give you an overnight stay if necessary.
Often sought by future tourists. The traditions and legends of Georgians invariably amaze newly arrived vacationers. The unusual way of life of the local residents, the temperamental manner of communication, immense friendliness and the desire to invite, so unusual for a resident of central Russia stranger to visit himself for at least one glass of wine, puts the lowland dweller into a stupor and suspicion that he has found himself somewhere on another planet, but it is called Georgia. Don’t let this small mountainous country fool you with its size, believe me, it has so many incredible and interesting things that it wouldn’t take a very long vacation to see them all.
No matter how trivial it may sound, everything around will be unusual: extraordinary panel houses with a pile of balconies, kind police officers always ready to help, delicious inexpensive wine and huge portions of food, ornate toasts that carry a certain meaning and reveal another interesting legend or fact from history. Georgia, and finally, people who always go through life with a smile.
50 facts about Georgia
- Georgia is considered a country of long-livers. According to one legend, the time spent with a guest does not count towards the age lived. Now I understand why they are so hospitable?
- In the famous Georgian poem "The Knight in the Tiger's Skin" there is the word "vefhvtmbrdgvneli", consisting of 11 consonants in a row, but in everyday speech such a record belongs to another word of 8 consonants in a row - "gvprtskvnis".
- The wedding is celebrated with a very large number of guests, including not only close relatives, but also friends of friends. Refusal to come to such an event can lead to a serious deterioration in relations. Therefore, if you are invited to a wedding, then you should not refuse, especially since it is worth it.
- Georgians often don’t take off their shoes when they come to visit, and hosts rarely say anything about this. You cannot offend a guest, even if he brought mud on his shoes and walked on the carpet in the hall, and suddenly he has a hole in his sock.
- In national Georgian cuisine there are certain dishes that are eaten with the hands, thus savoring it. For example, kebabs and khinkali should be eaten exclusively with your hands, even in restaurants, without the help of cutlery.
- The Georgian song "Chakrula" was sent into space by NASA in 1976 as a message alien races so that they appreciate musical abilities humanity.
- There are still cases when the groom can kidnap the bride, although nowadays this is done with the mutual consent of the newlyweds.
- Although young people feel a sense of respect for their elders, most often they call them simply by name, including the children of their parents.
- Europeans call Georgia Georgia, Russians call it that, and Georgians call their country Sakartvelo.
- If you are drunk, but need to return somewhere by car, you can politely explain the reason to the police officer and there is a high probability that one of them will agree to act as a “sober driver” while his partner will drive behind.
- The accent on a certain letter or syllable, so familiar to us, is absent in the Georgian language, along with in capital letters both male and female, which is subsequently clarified from the context.
- Family relationships and family ties are very strong here, and the father’s words do not stand up to criticism.
- In 2006, in Europe and the UK, a native of Georgia became the best-selling singer. In the fall of the same year, she entered the Guinness Book of Records for performing the deepest-sea concert in the world, at a depth of 303 meters in the North Sea.
- One more interesting fact is that Georgians are used to hanging laundry everywhere. If you go into the old well courtyards in Tbilisi, you can undoubtedly see laundry stretched between the balconies. In high-rise buildings, they throw a rope to the nearest pole and calmly dry their towels.
- One of the greatest Russian poets of the 20th century, Vladimir Mayakovsky, was born and raised 25 km from Kutaisi, in the city of Bagdati. The famous Russian politician, Sergei Lavrov, was also raised under the warm Georgian sun.
- It is convenient to hitchhike around Georgia - many drivers will be ready to give a hiker a ride absolutely free and will have time to tell several local legends along the way.
- Three Georgian brothers: Sergo, David and Alexi Mdvivani, in the 20-30s of the 20th century, became known as famous marriage swindlers on both sides of the Atlantic. An interesting fact is that they eventually enriched themselves by half a billion dollars due to their numerous marriages to famous and wealthy people, and this was at that time!
- A Russian citizen can easily obtain Georgian citizenship and have dual citizenship, but vice versa is not possible.
- Georgians use the decimal number system. That is, to name any number, for example, between 20 and 100, you need to count how many twenties it consists of, name this number and the remainder. For understanding: 48 - two-twenty-eight, 97 - four-twenty-seventeen.
- The fact that the oldest shards of wine jugs and the oldest grape vines were discovered on the territory of Georgia allows the locals to call their country the birthplace of wine.
- Only older Georgians who lived through the times of the USSR speak Russian; the younger generation focuses on English. However, with the development of the tourism industry and the ever-increasing flow of Russian-speaking tourists, the demand for young people with knowledge of the Russian language is constantly increasing.
- Georgians love and are very proud of their homeland. Even when they go abroad, they try to return by earning money or live in a foreign land, but they never forget who they are by blood.
- The dominant religion of Georgia is Christianity, and not Islam, as many people think.
- Thanks to Saint Nino, who lived for many years in the Bodbe Monastery, Georgia adopted Christianity at the beginning of the 4th century, and this was earlier than baptism Kievan Rus. To this day they remain very religious and believing people.
- At the beginning of 2000, tourism began to develop in the country, including winter tourism, and now there are several modern ski resorts: Gudauri, Bakuriani, Tetnuldi and Goderdzi.
- The local population, like most southerners, is accustomed to living in the present day. Roughly speaking, you received your pay today, which means you hang out with friends in a restaurant to the fullest, and tomorrow you’ll put your teeth on the shelf and walk to work.
- Corruption and bureaucracy have been practically eradicated in Georgia.
- There is a stereotype that Georgians do not like Russians - this is not true, they have long understood that the population is not responsible for what the top do. If a person is good, then his nationality does not matter.
- When you come to the market and decide to buy something, you first need to bargain. With a taxi driver too, and everywhere where the price is not clearly indicated.
- When Georgian children call their parents mom and dad in the presence of Russian-speaking tourists, they are quite surprised by what they hear. In Georgian, mother sounds like “deda”, dad is “mama”, grandmother is “bebua”, and grandfather is “babua” or “papa”. Therefore, do not be surprised when you see children on the street addressing their fathers with the words “mom”.
- National folk dances and songs of Georgians are recognized by UNESCO as a masterpiece cultural heritage humanity.
- One of the highest mountain settlements in Europe, in which people live all year round, is the small village of Ushguli, which is located in Upper Svaneti at an altitude of 2,300 meters.
- The territory of Georgia is literally crammed with mineral springs, of which there are about 2.5 thousand.
- If you find yourself in the house of a Georgian family, you will never leave hungry and, most often, sober - the owners will roll out all the available supplies on the table, even if they are the last.
- Have you heard the ancient Greek legend about the Golden Fleece, stolen by Jason and the Argonauts? This was a long time ago, but the events of that time developed precisely in the place where modern Georgia is now located.
- When the Greeks discovered Georgia, they called it “The Land of the Rising Sun.”
- A well-known ancient greek hero Prometheus, who gave people divine fire, for which he was punished by the gods and chained to a rock, is rumored to be somewhere in the depths of Prometheus' cave.
- In Tbilisi, there is no set start day for schoolchildren. It is between September 17 and 21 and is determined depending on the temperature level outside.
- There is no central heating in Georgia and hot water. Residents independently install gas and electric heaters not only in the private sector, but also in modern apartments.
- The housing and communal services and homeowners associations that are familiar to us have long been eliminated as unnecessary and have a large corruption and bureaucratic component.
- An interesting feature of most Georgian elevators in apartment buildings is a paid fare. They have a special coin acceptor and require a couple of tetri for the opportunity to ride this miracle of technology. Sometimes there are locks on the elevator, and fees are collected from residents once every 30 days, so to speak for a monthly pass.
- “Tapaka” is a kind of Georgian frying pan in which “Tapaka Chicken” is cooked, but through the seas and continents the name has changed, becoming familiar to our ears “Tabaka Chicken”.
- Georgian toasts are not limited to the banal “For parents” or “For love” - they are similar to short story, carrying some meaning. Be prepared that there can be a lot of toasts, and they themselves can often be lengthy.
- In some cities of Georgia, for example, Tbilisi and Batumi, snow falling in winter is considered something extraordinary, so everyone, young and old, goes out onto the streets to rejoice at this event, because there are only a few such days a year.
- Most of the attractions in Georgia are free, and if you need to pay something, the price will be small.
- Don't be surprised to see Georgians kissing on the cheek when they meet. This tradition does not depend on gender and age - when they come to visit someone, they kiss everyone.
- In the old days, Spain and Georgia bore the same name - Iberia. And the language of the Basques, a people living in northern Spain and southwestern France, is very similar to Georgian.
- In the Georgian language, the closest analogue of our “thank you” is, translated into Russian, “you’re welcome.” Those. you gave a person a house, they said thank you, and you proudly responded “you’re welcome.”
- One of the three first Red Army soldiers to hoist the Victory Banner on the roof of the fascist citadel in Berlin on May 1, 1945, was the Georgian Meliton Kantaria.
- Livestock, in the form of goats, sheep, cows and grunts, feel quite comfortable in Georgia. They wander wherever they please all day long, often causing minor traffic jams and completely ignoring annoying beeps.
I'll start of course with A. S. Pushkina
Monastery on Kazbek
High above the family of mountains,
Kazbeg, your royal tent
Shines with eternal rays.
Your monastery is behind the clouds,
Like an ark flying in the sky,
Soars, barely visible above the mountains.
A distant, longed-for shore!
There, saying goodbye to the gorge,
Rise to the free heights!
There, in the sky-high cell,
It’s up to me to hide in God’s neighborhood!…
The darkness of night lies on the hills of Georgia;
Aragva makes noise in front of me.
I feel sad and light; my sadness is light;
My sadness is full of you.
By you, by you alone….my despondency
No one torments, no one worries,
And the heart burns and loves again - because
That it cannot help but love.
Vladimer Mayakovsky
To our youth (excerpt)
Three different sources of speech in me
I'm not one of the smart-ass guys.
I am a Cossack grandfather, a Sich member to others,
And by birth he is Georgian.
Vladikavkaz-Tiflis (excerpt)
I know: stupidity - Eden and paradise!
But if they sang about it,
It must be Georgia, a joyful land,
Poets meant.
Boris Pasternak
Waves (excerpt)
The shadow of the castle was already growing from the scream
Those who have found the word, and in the mountains,
Like a stutterer frightened by his mother,
Devdorah hummed and melted.
We were in Georgia. Let's multiply
Need for tenderness, hell for heaven,
Let's take the greenhouse under the ice,
And we will get this edge.
And we will understand in how subtle doses
Mixed with earth and sky
Success and work, and duty, and air
So that a person like here comes out.
So that, having formed among the foodless,
And defeats and captivity,
He became a model, having taken shape,
Something as strong as salt.
Nikolay Tikhonov
I know Georgia like this
And I strictly cherish it in my heart -
Loud avalanches rejoice,
And the tours jump in the snow.
Diamond ducts thunder,
And above the green world to everyone
Ice steps hang like strings
Poems frozen in the air.
Overnight in the towers, modest dinner
On this royal land,
I slept under a semi-dark vault
I have never seen more fun dreams.
A wonderful photo of a courtyard with Svan towers was taken from the site http://www.risk.ru/users/veronika/4755/ and taken by Veronika Sorokina.
Yakov Polonsky
A walk around Tiflis (letter to Lev Sergeevich Pushkin - excerpt)
….A wonderful view opened up. - From here, from behind the baths,
I can see the castle behind Kura,
And it seems to me that the stone cornice
Steep bank, with overhanging houses,
With balconies, bars, pillars, -
Like decoration for a magical benefit performance,
Luxuriously lit with sparklers.
From here I see - beyond the blue mountains
The dawn, like an altar, burns - and Tiflis
Greeted with farewell rays -
Oh, how brilliantly this hour passes!
Great for unaccustomed eyes
Painting! Remember the whole mass of these buildings,
This whole mixture of ruins without legends -
Houses built, perhaps, from ruins -
Gardens entangled with grape branches,
And these domes, of which there is only one type
It will remind you of the outskirts of Constantinople.
And agree what to draw
Tiflis is not my pen...
Sergey Yesenin
In the Caucasus
Since ancient times our Russian Parnassus
Drawn to unfamiliar countries
And most of all, only you, Caucasus,
It rang like a mysterious fog.
Here Pushkin is in sensual fire
With his disgraced soul he composed:
“Don’t sing beauty in front of me
You are the songs of sad Georgia.”
And Lermontov, curing melancholy,
He told us about Azamat,
How is he for Kazbich's horse
He gave his sister instead of gold.
For the sadness and bile in your face
The boiling of yellow rivers is worthy,
He, like a poet and an officer,
Was calmed down by a friend's bullet.
And Griboyedov is buried here,
As our tribute to the Persian gloom,
At the foot of a big mountain
He sleeps to the sound of zurna and tari.
And now I am your smoothness
He came without knowing the reason:
Is it possible to weep over our native ashes here?
Or spy on your hour of death!
Yakov Helemsky
***
“Borjomi” is better to drink in Borjomi
And “Akhasheni” - in Akhasheni.
Captivates us in an open house
Taste of the original source.
This is a unique miracle
Everything is familiar and unfamiliar... So it is in the poet’s homeland
You listen to the poems in a different way.
Magic current born in the vines
In the soul, in the silence of the underground vaults,
Does not tolerate difficult transportation,
Does not tolerate false translations.
Vsevolod Rozhdestvensky
Batumi (excerpt)
So sometimes, wounded by light sadness,
Looking at the surf strip,
Here in Batumi, a longtime northerner,
I carry the sun in my chest.
As if I was once born here
Or lived for many years,
And he greets me like a brother,
Lighthouse green star.
Andrey Voznesensky
Tbilisi bazaars
Down with Raphael!
Long live Rubens!
Trout fountains,
Colorful rudeness!
Here are holidays on weekdays
Arbs and watermelons.
Traders are like tambourines,
In bracelets and beads.
Indigo turkeys.
Wine and persimmon.
Are you without money now?
Drink for free!
Long live the women
Lettuce vendors
Match the baobabs
In four girths!
Markets are fires.
It's fiery and young here
Burning tan
Not hands, but gold.
There are reflections of oils in them
And golden wines.
Long live the master,
What will write them out!
Alexander Kushner
***
I'm in Georgia. I don't know anyone.
Someone else's speech. The customs are foreign.
It’s as if my life has turned over the edge,
It’s like I’m sleeping and I see blue
Hills. A magpie is walking around the yard.
If only I knew why, having forgotten the nesting place,
It's crazy to search and travel so far
As the singer Sophia used to say.
Ah, you see, I like the balcony,
Such a balcony, long, wooden.
Forgive me that the answer is so evasive,
Like this ledge of the guttural street.
Cheer up. because what happened to us,
It's not more fun than what will happen to us.
Ah, you see, I like the railings
And everyone wants buildings and people.
Of course both buildings and people!
But I will die - for the balcony
I'll grab it and jump out of the horror,
And I’ll wipe off the dust and crumple up the handkerchief.
Love held me - it collapsed.
Everyone is being pulled down, so at least don’t give up,
Ah, Georgia, you are mercy in this life,
An extension to it, a refuge and a whim!
Alexander Griboyedov
***
Where Alazan winds,
Bliss and coolness blows,
Where in the gardens they collect tribute
Purple grapes
The ray of day shines brightly,
They search early, love a friend...
Are you familiar with that country?
Where the earth knows no plow,
Forever young shines
Lush with bright flowers
And he gives a gardener
Golden fruits?
Wanderer, do you know love?
Not a friend to the dreams of the dead,
Scary under the sultry sky?
How does her blood burn?
They live and breathe it,
They suffer and fall in battle
With her in my soul and on my lips.
So samums from the south are bursting,
The steppe is heating up...
What fate, separation, death!..
Sergey Gorodetsky
Evening
Shadows fall from the mountains
To my purple city.
Invisible steps
A silent hour passes.
And the ringing of important cathedrals
Flows into the heights
Like the rustle of wet lilies,
Getting sleepy.
And the smoke melts quietly
Warm dwellings,
And a month as a pilgrim
He comes out naked and prostrate.
Birds call chicks
And mothers and children.
Here the stars' eyelashes will flash
Streams of rays.
The night is about to shudder
cozy wing,
So that everyone who is lonely,
My heart was relieved.
Bella Akhmadulina
Dreams about Georgia
Dreams about Georgia - what a joy!
And in the morning it’s so clean
Grape sweetness,
Overshadowed lips.
I don't regret anything
I do not want anything -
In golden Svetitskhoveli
I light the poor candle.
Small stones in Mtskheta
I give praise and honor.
Lord let it be
Forever as it is now.
May it always be news to me
And they cast a spell on me
Dear homeland severity,
The tenderness of the homeland is alien.
Osip Mandelstam
***
I dream of hunchbacked Tiflis,
Sazandarey's moan rings,
There are crowds of people on the bridge,
The entire carpet capital,
And below Kura is making noise.
There are spirits above Kura,
Where is the wine and sweet pilaf,
And the perfumer there is ruddy
Serves glasses to guests
And ready to serve guests.
Kakheti thick
It's good to drink in the basement, -
It's cool there, it's calm there
Drink plenty, drink two,
You don't have to drink alone!
In the smallest dukhan
You will find the deceiver.
If you ask “Teliani”,
Tiflis will float in the fog,
You will float in a bottle.
A person can be old
And the young lamb -
And under the lean month
With pinkish wine steam
Barbecue smoke will fly.
Evgeniy Yevtushenko
My Tbilisi (excerpt)
The old plane tree, barely shaking its leaves,
You are wise, as if you were Karachokheli.
Calling Galaktion with a sign,
In Tbilisi, Pushkin wanders with Pasternak.
Oh my city, smoking khinkal,
A little crazy and homely,
Give me such happiness after death
To become your shadow forever, a part...
Tbilisi has a special charm.
The stars have their eyes on this city.
Always close to Tbilisi for some reason
To Rome, to Athens and San Francisco.
In Tbilisi with the feeling of an old Tbilisi citizen
I know all the pavement stones by sight.
Whoever left knows for sure
It is impossible to leave Tbilisi.
Tbilisi does not leave you,
When he accompanies you on the road.
And if you start to forget - somewhere in the atrium
The mountain lens of Cachueta pricks.
Like that, which Milky Way immortally milked
I believe that the city is eternal.
Alexander Tsybulevsky
Of course, there is no corner spirit,
Like the very corner - everything around is new,
The organ grinder is dead. But still the shadow of the Maidan
She slammed into someone else's asphalt...
Nothing from the old dukhan.
How simple everything is. Here's a nimble old woman -
She urgently needs to cross the road:
Buy a bottle of lemonade when it's hot.
Rinse in a glass drum
The remnants of the sky are pale blue.
The basis of life is close to a sulfur bath,
The phenomena are artless and clear.
Without choice, go through any
Like poor plastic rosary beads.
Bulat Okudzhava
Georgian song
I'll bury a grape seed in warm soil,
I will kiss the vine and pluck the sweet grapes,
And I will call my friends, I will set my heart to love...
Get ready, my guests, for my treat,
Tell me straight to my face, who am I known to you?
The King of Heaven will forgive all my torment and doubts...
Otherwise, why do I live on this eternal earth?
In her dark red, my Dali will sing for me,
In my black and white I will bow my head to her,
And I will listen, and I will die from love and sadness...
Otherwise, why do I live on this eternal earth?
And when the fog begins to swirl, flying around the corners,
Let them float before me again and again in reality
Blue buffalo, and white eagle, and golden trout
Otherwise, why do I live on this eternal earth?
Anton Chekhov
From a letter to K. S. Barantsevich
...I survived the Georgian Military Road. This is not a road, but poetry, a wonderful fantasy story written by the Demon and dedicated to Tamara... Imagine yourself at an altitude of 8000 feet... Can you imagine? Now, if you please, approach mentally the edge of the abyss and look down: far, far away you see a narrow bottom along which winds white ribbon- this is the gray-haired, grumpy Aragva; On the way to it, your gaze meets clouds, fishing lines, ravines, rocks. Now raise your eyes a little and look ahead of you: mountains, mountains, mountains, and on them the insects are cows and people... Look up - there is a terribly deep sky, a fresh mountain breeze is blowing... Live somewhere on Gudaur or near Daryal and not write fairy tales are disgusting!...
Alexey Tolstoy
In the Caucasus
….Early in the morning from the balcony I saw the brown, reddish, tiled Tiflis, its eastern side. A lot of smoke rose above the houses in the transparent and still air; on the muddy, fast Kura, floating mills slowly turned with large wheels; behind them, from the Kura itself, stood the old walls of houses, so high that the river seemed to flow along the bottom of a deep gorge; In some places there were ladders hanging from the doors leading to the water; further, on the Asian side, gray minarets, domes and smoke are visible; Even further away, the city was surrounded in a ring by rocky and brown hills, and beyond them mountains, and even further away - snow...
Konstantin Paustovsky
Throw to the South (excerpt)
I already knew many places and cities in Russia. Some of these cities have already captured the imagination with their uniqueness. But I have never seen such a confused, colorful, light and magnificent city as Tiflis.
And I end my poetic report again with A.S. Pushkin J
Alexander Pushkin
Travel to Arzrum during the campaign of 1829
I have never seen anything more luxurious than the Tiflis baths either in Russia or Turkey. I will describe them in detail.
The owner left me in the care of a Tatar bathhouse attendant. I must confess that he was without a nose; this did not stop him from being a master of his craft. Hassan (as the noseless Tatar was called) began by laying me out on the warm stone floor; after which he began to break my limbs, pull out my joints, beat me hard with his fist; I did not feel the slightest pain, but an amazing relief. (Asian bathhouse attendants sometimes become delighted, jump on your shoulder, slide their legs along your thighs and dance on your back in a squat, and great. After this, he rubbed me for a long time with a woolen mitten and, splashing me heavily warm water, began to wash with a soapy linen bubble. The feeling is inexplicable: hot soap pours over you like air! NB: a woolen mitten and a linen bladder must certainly be accepted in a Russian bath: connoisseurs will be grateful for such an innovation.
After the bubble, Hassan let me go to the bath; and that was the end of the ceremony.
“Dreams about Georgia are joy!” from a poem by Bella Akhmadulina
Tbilisi - Mtskheta - Kutaisi - Baghdadi - Gori - Uplistsikhe - Bodbe - Sighnaghi - Kvareli - Telavi - Tsinandali - Alaverdi - Ikalto - Nekresi - Gremi - Tbilisi, (7 days, 6 nights)
Day 1: Tbilisi
The capital of Georgia is unique. It stands on several mountain hills, onto which the ancient quarters of the city “creep” in tiers. Tbilisi is the most beautiful Kura River with its picturesque rocky banks, flowing through the entire city. " Old city» - the historical center of Tbilisi, located at the foot of Mount Mtatsminda (Holy Mountain).
Halfway to the holy mountain Mtats Minda, hanging from the west over Tbilisi with a bristly ridge. Near the church, on two terraces of different heights, there is a Pantheon Georgian writers and public figures.
In the rock on the lower terrace, in a small grotto with a stone arch, two graves are visible. An inscription in Georgian is carved on the arch: “Here lie the ashes A. Griboyedova. This monument was erected by his wife Nino, daughter of the poet Alexander Chavchavadze, in the year 1832.”
Almost all buildings Old Town- historical or cultural monuments, life is in full swing here around the clock, tourists walk alone or in groups, lovers meet at the Clock Tower - this funny Tower appeared recently, built by the director of the Puppet Theater Rezo Gabriadze, artists exhibit their paintings, artisans offer numerous souvenirs.
During the excursion: visit Metekhi Church(V century), Narikala fortress(IV century), Sioni Cathedral(VI-VII centuries), Anchiskhati Basilica of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the oldest surviving Holy Trinity Cathedral, temple complex Tsminda Sameba- the main cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church. A walk to the favorite vacation spot of Tbilisi residents, to the park A.S. Pushkin with a bust of the great poet, opened in 1825 and along the avenue Shota Rustaveli.
Many great names of Russian literature are associated with Georgia and Tbilisi.
G Russia has always been attractive to Russian poets, writers and artists; they linked their fate with it, and when leaving Tbilisi, they always mentally returned to it; they called this city “The Magic Land” A.S. Pushkin. Decembrist writers lived in Tbilisi and Georgia V. Kuchelbecker, A. Bestuzhev-Marlinsky, A. Odoevsky, poets of Pushkin's galaxy - D. Davydov, A. Shishkov, V. Teplyakov. A cornet of the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment served in Tbilisi M. Lermontov, exiled to the Caucasus for the poem “On the Death of a Poet.” 14 years after M. Lermontov left, he came here L. Tolstoy. Preparing to join the Caucasian Army, he settled in the house of a German colonist and kept diaries about his stay in Georgia. Here L. Tolstoy wrote his first work, “Childhood,” and decades later, the story “Hadji Murat,” which reflected many of his Tbilisi impressions.
The Russian playwright visited Tbilisi more than once A. Ostrovsky.
Young man wrote his first story “Makar Chudra” Alexey Peshkov published in the Tbilisi newspaper “Caucasus” and for the first time signed it with the name “Maxim Gorky”. The poem “The Girl and Death”, sketches for the legend “Danko”, several stories - all this is the Tbilisi period of creativity M. Gorky.
IN different time literary routes ran through Tbilisi G. Uspensky, A. Bely. Found good friends in Tbilisi To Mayakovsky, born in Baghdadi in Georgia, S. Yesenin, B. Pasternak, O. Mandelstam, K. Paustovsky, been here before And Chekhov. Dinner with songs and dances. Overnight at a hotel in Tbilisi.
Day 2: Tbilisi - Mtskheta - Kutaisi
Breakfast. Tour of the ancient capital of Georgia- a city-museum listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Visit Cathedral Svetits hoveli(1010-1029) - one of the main Christian shrines, the Robe of the Lord, is buried at the base of the cathedral, as well as the burial place of many Georgian kings. There is also part of the life-giving pillar. Visit Samtavro Monastery- where the blackberry bush grows, blooms and bears fruit all year round, near which in the 4th century. Saint Nino lived and preached - the enlightener, the first preacher of Christianity in Georgia. Inside there is a miraculous icon of the Iveron Mother of God, a miraculous icon of St. Nino, the grave of the holy King Merian and Queen Nani, the relics of St. Abibos Nekresky, St. Shio Mg Vimsky. Visit Jvari temple-monastery(VI century).
Tasting of Georgian wines in a private household - only for adults, a story about the traditions of making wine and excellent Georgian lemonade as a gift - for children.
Day 3: Kutaisi - Baghdadi, the birthplace of V. Mayakovsky - Kutaisi
Moving to Baghdadi, where in 1893 in the family of a hereditary Russian nobleman and a Kuban Cossack woman was born Vladimir Mayakovsky. In the fall of 1902, he passed the entrance exams to the Kutaisi classical gymnasium. For Vladimir Mayakovsky, Georgia is much more than just the place where he comes from. This is an anchor, a sail, and a lighthouse. Georgia is both an island and a universe. Mayakovsky could write about “different Parises, Berlins and Vienna,” but Georgia was always the only one for him, Georgian language - unforgettable, and Georgian friends - real and beloved. Mayakovsky was a great representative of world literature. He was born in one of the most beautiful corners of Georgia, and his attitude towards his homeland was so pure that he wrote: “When I set foot on the land of the Caucasus, I felt that I was a Georgian.” The Georgian temperament was always strong in him, and Georgians carefully preserve the memory of the great poet. Today, opened in 1940, the Mayakovsky House Museum operates, readings of his poems are held annually, and on the tombstone of V. Mayakovsky’s father the words are carved: “To the father of the great poet - from admirers of his talent.” Mayakovsky was often asked: “Are you Georgian or Russian? Is your homeland Russia or Georgia? Mayakovsky paused, smiled and answered: “Do you want to know who I am?” I am Georgian by birth, and Russian by nationality. Baghdadi is my birthplace. I love Georgia as my homeland, I love its sky, its sun, its nature."
Return to Kutaisi. Dinner. Overnight.
Day 4: Kutaisi - Gori - Uplistsikhe - Tbilisi
Breakfast. Excursion to the karst Prometheus cave, where, according to legend, Prometheus gave fire to people and was chained to a rock for this. Moving to, if desired - visit to the Stalin Museum. The museum consists of three blocks: the museum itself, the house and Stalin’s personal railway carriage. Next we will see "Uplistsikhe"- an amazing city founded in rock in the 7th century. This is the oldest fortified city, a grandiose titanic work to create an entire city from the rocky solid. Transfer to Tbilisi. Dinner. Overnight.
Day 5: Tbilisi - Bodbe - Sighnaghi - Kvareli - Telavi
Breakfast. Moving to the “city of eternal love”. Visit to Bodbe village monastery complex St. George and the grave of St. Nino, who brought Christianity to Georgia. Upon request, bathe in the waters of the holy miraculous source, which heals the sick and makes the unfortunate happy. Excursion to the “city of eternal love” Si Gnagi, which is located on the top of a mountain range overlooking the Alazani Valley.
Day 6: Telavi - Tsinandali - Alaverdi - Nekresi - Gremi - Telavi - Tbilisi
Breakfast. Getting to know - the main city and administrative center of Kakheti, King Erekle Fortress Museum II (XVIII century), who signed the Treaty of Georgievsk with Russian Empire. Visit house of the A. Chav Chavadze Museum. Many Russian writers and poets stayed in the hospitable house of Prince Alexander Chavchavadze, a romantic poet and the most educated man of his time. Fate was closely connected with Tbilisi and the family of Prince A. Chavchavadze A. Griboyedova, who, according to one of his contemporaries, “loved Georgia so ardently, so purely, as few people even love their homeland.” A.S. Griboedov was married to Nino, the daughter of Prince A. Chavchavadze, and was buried on the holy Mount Mtatsminda, in the Pantheon of Georgian writers and public figures.
Next visit Alaverdi Cathedral(XI century), the second tallest building (more than 50 m), as well as the monastery wine cellar. Tour of the ancient Ikalto Academy(X-XII centuries), where, according to legend, the great Georgian poet and philosopher studied Shota Rustaveli, author worldwide famous poem "The Knight in Tiger Skin". Visit Nekresi- the oldest temple in Georgia from the 4th century. Overview of the royal fortress Gremi(XVI century). The complex is surrounded by a wall with towers and embrasures. The remains of a secret underground passage leading to the river have been preserved. Transfer to Tbilisi. Farewell dinner with dancing and singing. Overnight.
