Interesting facts about Georgia

Every year Georgia becomes an increasingly popular tourist destination. Yet many people still know very little about this beautiful country in the Caucasus. We have collected the most interesting facts that will help you learn more about Georgia.

1. Georgia is not called Georgia at all

At least not by Georgians. They call their country Sakartvelo. The term consists of two words: Kartvel refers to the inhabitants of the historical Kartli-Iberian region. Adding the prefix and ending Sa…o (Sa-kartvel-o) indicates the locality in which these inhabitants inhabit (Kartli).

The origins of the name “Georgia” are unclear. In English, Italian and Spanish, this country is called “Georgia”, in French” Géorgie”, in Russian”Georgia”. In former times, the name “Grusinien” was also common in German – speaking countries-a term derived from the Slavic language.

2. Georgia is an Orthodox country

Georgia was one of the first to adopt Christianity, making it the state religion in 337. The Georgians maintained their faith for centuries, and even the invasion of the hordes, including the armies of Genghis Khan and Tamerlane, did not prevent them.

3. Police: a special type of service

Due to the desire of the country to become more European, a major police reform was carried out, which also affected the work of the police and its work with people. You should not be afraid to contact a police officer for information or help. In Georgia, you can “hitchhike” with police cars.
The police also provide a special type of service – they can take you to the address you request-when you are a foreigner and traveling alone in Georgia.
And if you have consumed an excessive amount of alcohol at a party, you can call a patrol car. If you explain that you don’t want to create an emergency, you can get an unusual service: the police will take you and the car to your home for free.

4. Bribes are not given in Georgia

This is the result of the fight against corruption that has been waged in Georgia for the past few decades. Moreover, they are punished with long prison terms and fines not only for those who take, but also for those who offer bribes.

5. 500 grape varieties grow in Georgia

And this makes up almost one-fourth of the world’s grape varieties, including endangered vines not found anywhere else on Earth.

6. Georgia is the birthplace of the oldest cultural artifacts

It was here that the oldest piece of thread (Dating back 34,000 years) was discovered. Georgia is also home to the oldest gold artifacts, which were skillfully made by the ancestors of the ancient Colchians, the ancestors of the Georgians, in Colchis. It is with Georgia that the myths about the Argonauts and the Golden fleece are associated. Here, indeed, in the bronze age, gold was extracted by washing the river sand through sheep skins, in the wool of which particles of precious metal got stuck. But the collection of gold products of Colchis can be seen in the gold Fund of the National Museum of Georgia.

7. The first Europeans probably occurred in Georgia.

This hypothesis is confirmed by archaeological finds in Eastern Georgia, where the oldest remains of Europeans were found. The species is named Homo Georgicus.

8. The word “gwprzkwnit”

In comparison with the Indo-Germanic languages known to us, the Georgian language has some peculiarities. For example, there is no upper or lower case. All letters are written in lowercase; no uppercase letters. There are also no grammatical genders, such as masculine, feminine, or neuter.

But the biggest problem is that the Georgian language is agglutinating. Agglutination means that grammatical functions such as person, tense, or case are attached to the root form of a word. This sometimes leads to regular clusters of consonants that are very difficult to pronounce. For example, in the name of the Georgian city of Mtskheta. Or the Georgian patter “You’re ripping us off” – “gwprzkwnit”, where there are eight consonants in a row.

hi means ” Be a winner!”

The fact that Georgia had a stormy history, that the country repeatedly suffered from invaders, can be seen today in various linguistic phenomena. For example, if you say “Hello” in Georgian, it sounds like “Gamardshoba” (politely: Gamardshobat), which literally means ” Be a winner!» “Good morning” is pronounced as “Dila mschwidobisa”, which means something like “Morning of the world”. The same applies to the good evening (“Ghame mschwidobisa”).

10. Georgia is a country of Rugby

Even before the middle Ages, a sport similar to Rugby was practiced in the area that is now Georgia. In the game” Lelo Burti ” (field ball), two villages competed with each other. The essence of the game is that it was necessary to carry the ball weighing about 7 kg to the opponent’s half. It was said that the winning village would get the best harvest. Rugby today is primarily spread in New Zealand, England, Australia, and South Africa. Georgia is ranked 12th in the world Rugby rankings. This position is higher than that of Italy, the United States, Russia, Spain, Brazil, or Germany.

Following the ancient game, the Georgian national Rugby team is called “Lelos”. The term “Try”, i.e. placing the game device in the opponent’s zone, is called “Lelo”in Georgia.

11. the deepest cave in the world is located in Georgia

Gruber’s cave (also called crow’s cave) is the deepest cave in the world. The cave is also called the underground Everest. So far, they have investigated researchers at a depth of 2191 m. However, it is assumed that the cave is much deeper. The cave is located near the village of Sundries in the mountains of Arabika in Abkhazia and near the Black sea coast.

The entrance to the cave is through a vertical shaft only 1 m wide and 60 m deep. The cave system is branched. At the top, most of the shafts fall almost vertically. At a depth of 1710 m there are underground waterfalls, lakes and a large hall.

12. Three mountains above 5000 meters

The highest mountain in the Alps is Mont Blanc with a height of 4804 m. there are no mountains higher than 5000 m in Switzerland, Austria, France or Italy. There are three peaks of five thousand meters in Georgia. With a height of 5201 m. Shkhara is the highest peak in Georgia, followed by janga with a height of 5051 m. Both mountains are located in Svaneti. The third five thousandth of the peak Kazbek, Mtskheta-tyanetsa the region. Georgia is also home to the highest permanently populated village in Europe, located at an altitude of 2,100 meters. This is the village of Ushguli, located at the foot of Shkhara mountain.

13. Fortress wall in the city of Sighnaghi

It is not as long as the Chinese, but it is also very ancient and picturesque. Sighnaghi, the pearl of the Kakheti region, is located 110 km from Tbilisi. The city is surrounded by a four-kilometer fortress wall with 23 towers and six gates, built in the 1770s. Interestingly, each tower of the fortress was named after the nearest village, so that the locals could hide in case of danger.

14. Cable cars instead of buses

In most cities, people ride trams, trains, or buses. In Chiatura, this is not the case: in this industrial city, this function is performed by cable cars. Most of them were built in the 1950s, when Chiatura was thriving in manganese mining. 26 cable cars transported people and goods to and from the manganese mines.

Today, the industrial value of Chiatura is less pronounced. However, about 17 cable cars still run in and around the city. In the hilly Chiatura area, they are the fastest way for locals to get to work or shop in the city. The use of cable cars is free of charge.

15. The dream of the architect

There are many historical monuments in Georgia. Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi, Gelat monastery, historical monuments of Mtskheta and Upper Svaneti are protected by UNESCO as part of the world heritage project.

16. Georgian dances-UNESCO’s intangible heritage
Georgian folk dances are incredibly incendiary, bright and memorable. Viewers are always happy to watch the sharp and fast movements of mountain dwellers. The peculiarity of this dance – technique “topoint” dance on toes in the thin leather boots!

17. “Chakrulo” in extraterrestrial orbit

In 1976, NASA sent a recording of the Georgian song “Chakrulo” as an example of the musical talent of earthlings.

18. Elevators in Georgia – paid

Almost all high-rise buildings in Georgia now have to pay for an Elevator. True, a little, only 5 tetri (0.02 cents)and if you go up. But the descent down is free. The residents themselves often use a personal key for the Elevator.

19. Linen is dried as in Venice

Another interesting fact is that Georgians are used to hanging Laundry everywhere. If you go to the old courtyards-wells in Tbilisi, you can undoubtedly see the linen stretched between the balconies. In high-rise buildings, the rope is thrown to the nearest post and they calmly dry their towels.

20. Georgian weddings are very big

Georgians like to celebrate by inviting a lot of guests. Weddings are no exception, and usually gather more guests than other holidays; each party invites at least one hundred people. Therefore, a wedding for 100-150 people in Georgia looks small.

21. Georgians, who raised the Soviet flag over the Reichstag

Meliton Kantaria, Hero of the Soviet Union, Georgian Sergeant of the Soviet Army, did this on April 30, 1945, together with Mikhail Yegorov, which marked the victory over the Nazis. Today there is a monument to him in one of the parks in Tbilisi.

22. the Comedy “Woe from wit” was written in Georgia»

However, only the first and second acts. This happened in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), where Alexander Griboyedov was the Secretary of the Russian diplomatic mission.

23. Vladimir Mayakovsky is from Georgia

The famous Russian futurist poet was born in bagdati in the Imereti region of Georgia in 1893. The town is one of the oldest settlements in the area and is still home to a close-knit community of 3,000 people, many of whom are farmers and winemakers. The city was renamed Mayakovsky in 1940 and retained the title until 1991 after the collapse of the USSR. But the monuments dedicated to Mayakovsky remained intact in the city to this day.