{"id":240,"date":"2012-04-03T07:55:07","date_gmt":"2012-04-03T07:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/?p=240"},"modified":"2026-03-02T17:07:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T17:07:28","slug":"ananauri-03-27-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/2012\/04\/03\/ananauri-03-27-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Ananauri"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now that the weather turns toward spring and our truck is repaired (with genuine Ford parts, purchased online and delivered through the efforts of USA2Georgia) we have begun taking Sunday drives to nearby sites of historical interest.  Recently we chose as our destination Ananauri, just 66 kilometers from Tbilisi.  Ananauri… a decidedly un-Georgian sounding name, with just three consonants, each standing alone and scattered among five vowels!  We think this must be an extraordinary place to have such an uncommon name.  Our guidebook tells of amazing old churches, and we like to be amazed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The day begins with sun but soon clouds\nover; the rain is scant and the roads mostly dry.  It\u2019s an easy ride along the Mtkvari River as far as\nMtskheta, where we pick up the Georgian Military Highway and continue north\nalong the Aragvi.  A half-hour\noutside of Mtskheta the road begins to climb, leaving the river far below.  Raw clefts through the hillsides look\nprone to rock slides, and I try not to look at them, concentrating instead on\nthe vistas opening on my right, tree-clad ranks of mountains beyond mountains rising\nfrom the river gorge, mist lying in the valleys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We pass a stone monument bristling with symbols of battle; then the road climbs more steeply, winding along the western edge of the Zhinvari Reservoir.\u00a0 The water is very low; inside the broad dam a motor boat hangs suspended in midair, waiting for rushing snowmelt from the peaks at Gudauri and Kazbegi to lift it free.\u00a0 A round tower appears on the right, set back from the road, and we swing into a big, open parking area.\u00a0 Two friendly and very dusty dogs greet us hopefully, but we carry nothing but a camera; the dogs turn and wander off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A few tables of handcrafts stand between us\nand the entrance to the site; we exchange greetings with the vendors, smile and\nglance briefly at dolls in traditional dress; fur hats; hand-knit socks,\nmittens, vests, and hats; jewelry. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two churches at Ananauri are enclosed within\ndark stone walls, crenellated along the summit and with watchtowers set at\nintervals.  We enter the compound\nthrough the square main gate, a squat tower in the south wall.  The lower church (late 17th<\/sup>-century)\nof warm yellow sandstone stands just inside, so close to the wall that it\u2019s\nimpossible to photograph straight on, and we crane our necks to admire the tall\nfa\u00e7ade.  The carvings resemble\nCeltic designs, curving, intertwined knots and intricate braids.  We walk along the south side of the\nchurch to the east end and look over the fortress wall to the reservoir below;\nhere it is entirely empty, a wide dry wash of gravel and mud with islands of\ndebris.  The turret of a round\nbelltower just outside the wall is almost close enough to touch.  Cut into the hard-packed earth between\nthe wall and the church, a flight of stone stairs descends into darkness and\nsilence; possibly a passage to a hiding place below, or the way to refuge within\nthe fortified walls from enemies outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We turn back toward the church and enter\nthrough a small door in the south fa\u00e7ade. \nA service is in progress; a small congregation draws close to two\npriests in the center of the nave, frankincense perfumes the air, sweet voices in\nharmony punctuate the low drone of the liturgy.  We stand at the rear with a few other tourists, taking in\nthe soft light filtering through high windows, the massive vaults and pillars,\nfaded frescoes, gilded icons in frames with beeswax tapers burning before them.  I wonder how much the worshipers and\ntheir priests resent our presence, and I stand very still, trying to radiate\nrespect and humility.  Soon we\nleave quietly and return to our explorations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Passing by the main gate, we climb a little\nrise and find the upper church (early 17th<\/sup>-century), no longer in\nuse.  The doors are gone and the porch\nstands open, its floor of fitted stones an unfinished puzzle as if someone is\nstill working at it.  We pass\nthrough a low doorway and into the church proper, where an arched stone portal\njust inside is engraved both front and back with graceful Georgian script.  Beyond this is a small, square\nsanctuary with high vaults rising to the domed crossing; pale light enters\nthrough the apse window and piercings in the dome.  The iconostasis is still in place, but all the icons have\nbeen removed and only the wooden framing remains.  A profound stillness reigns here, and cold seeps from the\nuneven floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Turning again to the outdoors, we continue\nnorth along a pathway that parallels the western fortification wall.  Snow remains in sheltered corners, and\nthe way along the north wall is dammed with dirty ice.  Retracing our steps, we puzzle over a\n12th<\/sup>-century stone tower standing close beside the western fa\u00e7ade of\nthe upper church\u2014so close that relief carvings on the church are nearly hidden\nfrom view.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We exit through the main gate and walk down\ntoward the empty reservoir.  Along\nthe shore stand ruins of the old village of Ananauri, its inhabitants removed\nto higher ground before the town was inundated.  We wander through the ghostly remains,\nimagination restoring the gaping roofs and torn walls and populating the broken\nchurch.  We try to picture the\nplace in summer, with lakefront cafes and restaurants, and boats to rent by the\nhour.  We prefer the old stone\nfences to the new concrete quayside, but that\u2019s just us.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On our way out, we stop and buy a pair of small handmade dolls in traditional costume and a hand-knit vest of soft Georgian wool.\u00a0 The dogs walk with us back to our car and we drive away, properly amazed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Now that the weather turns toward spring and our truck is repaired (with genuine Ford parts, purchased online and delivered through the efforts of USA2Georgia) we have begun taking Sunday drives to nearby sites of historical interest.  Recently we chose as our destination Ananauri, just 66 kilometers from Tbilisi.  Ananauri… a decidedly un-Georgian sounding name,
+ Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-at-home-in-georgia","category-other-places-other-times"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1918,"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240\/revisions\/1918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ouritalianfarmhouse.com\/ourstory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}