Sunday, June 11, 2017
The name Akhaltsikhe means "New Castle" in Georgian. The castle complex of Rabati is an interesting combination of preservation, restoration and re-creation. The outer part of Rabati has a hotel, restaurants, coffee shops, &c. The inner portion is accessible by ticket; I engaged an English-speaking guide to show me around.
The castle complex is a hodge-podge of different styles, reflecting different periods of local history. The castle dates to the 1200s and the dominant features in the inner area are the watchtower and former mosque. A church building and Russian pavilions are also present. Highlighting the Moorish influence from the Ottoman period, the castle features a number of contemplative pools.
The museum features local artifacts dating from as early as 2,000 BCE. Two items were particularly striking to me: A Pagan clay figurine with a few holes that look like a face (1) and an original illuminated manuscript of the gospels from the 1500s (2).
After a quick lunch, I was off to the Sapara Monastery deep in the mountains outside Akhaltsikhe, passing road-side poppy fields as we ascended. While there has been a monastery here since the 9th century, the current church building, St Saba's, and the frescoes therein, date from the 1300s. One story says the monastery was so well-hidden that the Ottomans were not aware of the monastery for the 3 centuries they ruled the area.
On the return trip down the mountains, we stopped at a pine glade and the driver rubbed his stomach, indicating nausea from the curvey ride (his or mine, I was not sure). We took some deep breaths and he told me that the pine trees were young because the communists had clear-cut the forest. While I do not speak Russian, I caught about every 10th word when they were cognates with English or French (3). He was very exuberant in his use of hand gestures, and he very much wanted me to understand the story.
I found the former and current Akhaltsikhe bus stations (unfortunately, I found the former bus station first) and hopped on the next Mashrutka to Borjomi. The town was more honky-tonk than I expected, with arcade games, bumper boats, roller coasters, etc. The slightly-rickety cable car ride to the top of the escarpment was scenic; I walked back down a little-used path that brought me into Borjomi central park (and unexpectedly, but pleasantly, allowed me to avoid the teenager-generated pandemonium at the park's ticket window and gate) (4) (5).
In 1820, the Russian Tsar (who ruled Georgia at the time) discovered that there were warm sulphur springs at Borjomi and his cousin built a palace nearby. It soon became very fashionable for the aristocracy to come to Borjomi to take the waters. A sign in the park said that the Tsar's Sulphur springs were 3.2 km up the valley. The honky-tonk (and paved pathway) soon ended and a muddy dirt road continued beside the river up the valley. As I walked into the woods through the mud, I took comfort in seeing people coming down the valley with small backpacks and wet hair; this must be the way to the Tsar's baths. About 3/4 of the way up, a sputtering, backfiring 4-person ATV approached. The driver stopped and signalled me to hop in the back. Seeeing a large stream coming from the valley side blocking the road just ahead (6), I accepted the ride and soon arrived at the warm mineral springs. The soak in the warms springs was quite refreshing.
On the walk back, I encountered a trio from Aktau, Kazahkstan. While communication was challenging, they did offer me a swig from a rather informal-looking bottle of some libation they clearly had been enjoying; I declined the offer. The Kazahk husband and wife insisted on a photo with me. The wife giggled, rolled her eyes at her husband, and generally seemed to think the whole encounter was great fun. Their pace not matching mine, I said goodbye in halting Russian and proceeded back to town.
(1) It is always interesting to me that, as highly social beings, we humans have evolved to see faces everywhere, even in a piece of clay with three holes that approximate where eyes and a mouth would be.
(2) There are many manuscript reproductions here also. The darkened room, special lighting and sealed case signalled the presence of origibal manuscripts. I was horrified when I noticed a guy take a flash picture of the original illuminated manuscript with his mobile phone.
(3) French was commonly spoken by the aristocracy in late Tsarist Russia. Some French words therefore made it into Russian, such as "douche" (shower in French) pronounced and meaning the same in Russian.
(4) Judging by the large number of groups of teenagers I have seen throughout Georgia, I'm guessing it's the end of the school year. A number of these groups of teens were dressed up for end-of-year banquets something like a prom.
(5) The Georgian people, while otherwise very pleasant, have no idea how to queue. For example, the notion of letting people off the Tblisi metro before getting on is entirely unknown here. Envision the offensive and defensive lines colliding in American football.This practice is particularly challenging when occurring at the small doors of Mashrutky. A babushka and I had a bit of a standoff at a Mashrutka door as she tried to get on and I to get off; I won.
(5) Thankfully, on the walk back down the valley, I discovered a small bridge a short walk up the side stream.
Gold-domed Mosque at Rabati Castle.
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