Traveling to the Land of Wine

The secret of Khvamli Mountain
October 22, 2015

Traveling to the Land of Wine

Georgia is the country of legends and I doubt there is a place in the world so fond of old tales as our country. Most of Georgian legends are about wine, feast and about love of Bacchus in general. We can find the sagas about wine in many of historical documents and verbal stories. General analysis of this material and archeological researches lead us to the conclusion that Georgia is the cradle of wine. According to one of the Georgian legends, the God has descended to find the place for his vineyard. He has visited many places but the final choice was the land, the place of burial of the bones of the nightingale, lion and the pig. It was Georgia (archeological researches confirm that when the Eurasia was continentally connected with Africa, Georgian territory was the dwelling of the lions). When the God planted His vine and harvested the crops, pressed the fruit and made wine, the wine took the features of those three beings, buried under the vineyard. When people drink wine, they start to speak like the nightingales sing. When people drink too much wine, they imagine being lions, capable to overcome all the impediments. And when the drunkenness is extreme, people become like pigs and you can guess why. The legend about Amiran, chained to the Mount Caucasus is universally known. There are many interpretations to this legend, but the most interesting can be heard in Svaneti. There is a small mountain in Svaneti, shaped in a very strange manner, which reminds the elongated subterranean wine vessel from Imereti region. According to the legend, Zeus punished Amiran (Prometheus) but couldn’t doom him to death and chained to this rock. This rock was the immense vessel, full of never-ending wine and Amiran, during centuries, subsisted on the drops from this vessel. Amongst the legends about Amiran, so often contradictory, the legend about the rock-vessel is one of the most interesting and once more confirms that wine-making tradition is indeed ancient in Georgia. According to the interpretation of the chained Amiran in Svaneti region, wine drops solely can maintain life of a human-being. Anyone can say that it is phantasy, not more. Though, there is one more, even more convincing legend about the amazing force of wine. The legend is about one of the greatest Saints in the orthodox world – Simeon the Columnist. St. Simeon the Columnist, after apostasy, spent his life standing on the column of the rock for decades. Only crumbs of bread were his food, which he soaked in wine. The main reason for firmness of this saint is faith of course but let’s not forget about amusing features of wine, maintaining life of the saint for decades. It is not accidental that the enemies, invading Georgia during centuries, started with elimination of vine. Vineyard has not only material importance in Georgia but it co-exists with people, like a living organism and creates the history of the country. For in-depth understanding of Georgian nature and the country, do not refuse yourself a wine tours in various regions of Georgia. Make your weeks full of colors.

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