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Kvemo Kartli Kvemo Kartli is the oldest region in Georgia, where human traces from all periods of human history can be found. The oldest fossils of Homo erectus outside Africa were discovered in Kvemo Kartli. The oldest known gold mine in the world, Sakdrisi, was also located in this region, but in addition to historical archaeological sites, Kvemo Kartli has great cultural and scenic wealth: castles, fortresses, churches, as well as several lakes, charming hiking areas and even a colourful semi-desert. Kvemo Kartli is an administrative region in southern Georgia, bordering the southern outskirts of Tbilisi, Azerbaijan and Armenia. General Information Surface area: 6527 km2 Structure of the region Kvemo Kartli was established as an administrative region by decree of the Georgian President in 1995, but the region is part of the former Kingdom of Kartli and largely corresponds to its historical borders. It consists of seven cities: Rustavi (as the administrative centre), Bolnisi, Gardabani, Dmanisi, Tetri Zkaro, Marneuli and Zalka, as well as six small towns/daba (urban-type settlements) and 338 villages. Cultural and natural highlights Since the 1990s, the region has been the centre of attention for the excavation site of Daminisi and the 1.8-million-year-old hominin fossils found there, as well as the world's oldest gold mine at Sakdrisi, but there are numerous other cultural monuments in the region, of which here is a small selection: 1. Sioni of Bolnisi The following monuments are particularly worth seeing 1. Algeti National Park Interesting to know - Almost half of the population of Kvemo Kartli are ethnic Azerbaijanis, Armenians, Russians and ancient Pontos Greeks also live here, as well as over 10,000 Swabian Germans who immigrated to Georgia at the beginning of the 19th century. - Economically, Kvemo Kartli is the most important region in Georgia. It still has metallurgical and chemical plants, a thermal power station and several small industrial enterprises. Agriculture, cattle breeding and fish farming are also important economic sectors in the region. - The Zalka reservoir, with a maximum depth of 25 metres, was dammed during the Soviet era, flooding three small settlements. In recent years, the water level has receded and has emerged on a peninsula on the beach close to the church. Although only a ruin of the church remains, services are sometimes held there and when the water level rises you can go there by boat. - Georgians are big football fans, but during the Soviet era there were only Soviet broadcasts and you could only watch Soviet football. In the village of Pantiani, at an altitude of about 1,400 metres, not far from Dmanissi, European channels could be received via Turkish aerials, so in the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of cars could be seen along the road in Pantiani, travelling with tiny aerial TVs and watching live broadcasts of European matches. Regional festivals Novruz Bayrami As almost half of the population of Kvemo Kartli are ethnic Muslims from Azerbaijan, several Islamic festivals are celebrated in the region. One of the most important is the New Year and Spring festival of Novruz Bayrami. It is celebrated from 20 to 21 March, the beginning of the astronomical New Year. How the festival is organised: In the evening, children place hats under their neighbours' doors and hide, waiting for the neighbours to fill the hats with holiday gifts. After sunset, people gather in the streets to light bonfires, dance around them and jump over them to cleanse their souls and ward off evil spirits. One of the most important parts of the festive table is the xonça - a tray filled with sweets, nuts, candles and painted eggs. Each of the sweets baked for Novruz has a symbolic meaning. Baklava represents the four parts of the world, qoğal the sun, Şəkərbura the moon and the painted eggs a symbol of life. In the month before Novruz, the four elements of nature are celebrated in turn every Wednesday: Water, Fire, Earth and Air. Didgoroba - Day of Didgori The festival dates back to the 12th century when, on 12 August 1121, a vastly inferior Georgian army led by King Davit IV defeated a superior Seljuk force on Mount Didgori. The outcome of the battle allowed the recapture of Tbilisi and other parts of the Caucasus that had been under Islamic rule. The victory, hailed by contemporaries as a supernatural miracle, marked the beginning of Georgia's medieval heyday and remains an important part of Georgian identity. Didgoroba is celebrated every year on 12 August with a large liturgy and various competitions such as horse races, wrestling, etc. Stalls are set up, there is barbecuing, dancing, singing and generally a lot of partying. History of Kvemo Kartli The areas of Kvemo Kartli have been inhabited since the Stone Age and several fossils have been found that are estimated to be around 1.8 million years old. Around 2200 BC, the "Trialeti culture" developed in the area of today's Kvemo Kartli, and archaeological excavations have uncovered several burial mounds from this period with numerous artefacts made of copper, obsidian and gold. In the 4th century BC, the kingdom of Kartli, also known as Iberia, was established and Kvemo Kartli became part of this kingdom. In the 5th century AD, after Georgia gained ecclesiastical independence (autocephaly) under King Vakhtang Gorgasali, some of the first churches were built in Kvemo Kartli, such as the Sioni Church in Bolnisi and the Sioni of Samshvilde. In the 8th century, areas of Kvemo Kartli and the capital Tbilisi came under strong Arab influence and the region became part of the Emirate of Tbilisi. It was not until the early 12th century that King Davit the Constructor succeeded in liberating parts of Georgia from the Arabs and Seljuks, and Kvemo Kartli became part of a united Georgia. In the following decades and centuries, the region gained great economic importance and Kvemo Kartli became an important trading centre where a branch of the Silk Road ran. Markets, caravanserais and a mint were established here in the 13th century. At the end of the 14th century, during the invasion of Timur Lang, the towns and villages of the region were burned and many people left the villages of Kvemo Kartli forever. In the 15th century, when Georgia broke up into various kingdoms and principalities, the region was ruled by various Georgian noble families, such as the Orbelianis and Baratashvilis, but the region still did not have an easy time, as Kvemo Kartli was repeatedly the target of attacks from Persia or neighbouring Dagestan. Because of its fertile soil and the possibility of large-scale livestock farming, the region was settled by people of Turkish origin, as well as Greeks and Armenians from the Ottoman Empire. In the 18th century, under King Irakli II, Kvemo Kartli became part of the Kingdom of Kartli-Kakheti, but at the beginning of the 19th century, in 1801, it was incorporated into the Russian Tsarist Empire, along with most of Georgia. As early as the 18th century, the Russian Empress Catherine the Great began to recolonise the newly acquired territories on the borders of the Tsarist Empire, and craftsmen and professional farmers were particularly needed to get the Tsarist Empire back on its feet economically. With this in mind, around 20,000 Swabian Germans were settled in the Kvemo Kartli region in 1817, partly on the outskirts of present-day Tbilisi. They founded villages such as Elisabethtal, Katharinenfeld, Neu-Tbilisi and Alexandersdorf. In the 20th century, during the Second World War, almost all the Germans from Kvemo Kartli and Tbilisi were resettled and their property incorporated into the Soviet collective farms. The last time Kvemo Kartli came to the fore in the 20th century was in the 1990s, when German and Georgian archaeologists made a world-famous find of human fossils. Today, the region is a good example of the coexistence of different ethnic and religious groups in a relatively small area. |
