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Georgia

Rabati Castle by daylight

Rabati Castle up close

Ruins of an old house with a grass roof for warmth in the cold winters

Ruins of a bygone era castle near the highway. Probably part of the old Silk Road

A local selling her homemade products to anyone stopping to try a sample.

Yelana with home made local bread. . Check that bread for rising

Borus shopped at the same location. What a deal, What great bread.

Electrical power coming from Russia through Georgia, at a nice profit to them to Turkey.

Next we stop at Vardzia, The cave city of of Vardzia is a monastery complex dug into the side of the Erusheli Mountain in southern Georgia near Aspindza.

This cave city is 13 story cave town built between 1186-9 by Georgia's famous Queen Tamara,

The Vardzia monastery alone consisted of over 600 apartments in a thirteen story complex. The city included a church, a throne room, and a complex irrigation system watering terraced farmlands. A complex irrigation system watering terraced farmlands was also constructed and in some tunnels the old irrigation pipes still bring drinkable water.

This underground monastery was built in the 12th Century, under the reign of King Tamar, the first woman that was ever crowned as a king (not a queen!) in Georgian history.

Looking out from the caves into the valley below.

In the late 1100's the medieval kingdom of Georgia was constantly under threat of the Mongol Empire. To help her people avoid the Mongol onslaught, Tamar ordered the construction of an underground sanctuary and secretly they started building this fortress under the Erusheli mountain. t was a gigantic job but the people worked hard with the determination that their culture and lifestyle should not be destroyed by the invading Mongols.

This underground fortress eventually had 13 levels constructed with natural caves and contained over 6000 rooms, including a throne room, a reception chamber, a meeting room, a bakery, a forge, chapels and a huge church.

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