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The Past meets The Present

After our wonderful trip to the Caucasian mountains, my husband Irakli departed for home, while I got to enjoy another week in Georgia. Thanks to the absolutely wonderful hospitality of his family and friends, especially his brother Achi and cousin Ilya, I saw even more interesting sights. Although I'm now back in the USA, I thought you would enjoy hearing about a few of my final adventures.

First stop: The Silk Museum. Who knew that Georgia once had a thriving silk industry? Georgia established trade relations with the Far East early. The northern part of the "Silk Route" crossed its territory and carried trade from China and India to Europe. So the Georgian people have been influenced by many cultures, both Asian and European. Thus, the Georgians' architecture, language, literature, cooking and national costume draw upon Persian, Arabic, Greek, and Russian sources.

Who knows now that Georgia has such a fine museum all about silk? We had family connections as Irakli's mother knew the former curator, (just another example of how everyone knows everyone here) but the current curator told us only foreigners come here, bringing their Georgian friends. What a collection it was! There are 3 halls of displays in this beautiful historic building.

The museum was established in 1887 by Nikolai Shavrov, great enthusiast and silk specialist, and the building for it was built in 1892. Along with the museum collections, there is a library (the oldest book is published in 1601). The museum houses all kinds of collections of specimens and models connected with and demonstrating silk production: collections of mulberry trees, leaves, roots, branchs and its products (even musical instruments made from the wood) collections of silkworms, butterflies, cocoons (5.000 breeds and variations); collections of natural and synthetic dyes with samples; collections of models for domestic and industrial silk production; collections of silk products - threads, fabrics, laces, and, most fascinating of all, an photo archive. The museum collections represent all countries with traditions of silk production. Most of the collections of the museum are were collected by N.Shavrov and donated by European, Russian and Caucasian colleagues. The museum and its library furniture themselves are good example of a 19th c. museum of natural history, in other words, the whole display and building itself is like stepping back in time.

Tiny fragments of silk fabric have been found in Georgian burial grounds of the 2nd - 4th centuries. It is interesting to note that in Georgia, on the banks of the river Mtkvari and elsewhere, certain endemic species of mulberry trees were wide-spread. All this leads one to believe that Georgia has long been acquainted with silk. According to legend, silk culture was introduced to Georgia from India and is connected with the 5th century Georgian King Vakhtang Gorgasali.

My favorite exhibits were photos of the people involved in the silk trade in the 1800's. These fascinating photos give a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people as well as being valuable ethnographic material that presents, in detail, characteristic features of the highlands and lowlands of Georgia. Of special interest were the displays of silk fabric and of various articles made from silk, especially belts, scarves and veils which are part of the Georgian National Costume.

Speaking of the National Costume, in my viewpoint few countries have a more appealing national dress. For men, the costume consists of a long coat over fitted pants. The coat is named a chokhah, (those who wear it are called chokhonesby), pants should be black and very fitted. The shoes or boots are high and made of soft black leather. It is usually magenta, black or white, is belted at the waist, and has decorative cartridge pouches on the chest. The sword or dagger is an important accessory. The kartuli kaba is the traditional female costume. It consists of a silk veil, often over an embroidered headband, and a long, embroidered dress having wide sleeves and gathered at the waist.


Next Stop: The Museum of Tblisi. Housed in a former Caravanserai, this was the one of the most important public buildings in Tbilisi in the 1800's. This Caravanserai, or place for caravans to stop, was built in a central location, and was several stories high, with an open-to-the-outside entrance and central atrium, ground floor built with stables, middle floor with spaces for shops (so that the merchants could display their wares) and upper floor as a hotel. Now, there are exhibits from the earliest days of the city to modern times. According to legend, Tbilsi (meaning "warm") was established as follows: King Vakhtang Gorgasali (AD 452-502) was hunting on the site of present-day Tbilisi. He wounded a pheasant (that's pheasant, as in game bird, not peasant as in vassal). As the pheasant was flew off, it fell into a warm sulfur spring. The spring water instantly cleansed and healed the wound, and the bird was able to escape. (An alternative legend states that the bird was cooked, and the king ate it. I kind of believe the 2nd legend more, don't you?) The king inspected the spring. Because he was pleased with the healing power of the water, he decided to settle there. (or maybe his wife convinced him that she would spend a lot less time cooking if they just moved there). Today, Old Tiblisi features several spas and hot springs, many with healing sulpher waters. Smelly, but healthy.

In the musuem, my favorite exhibits were the old photographs and mock-ups of stores, restaurants and home interiors from the 1800's. One can see in these old photos the faces of historic Georgians that are identical to modern day Georgians. Just change the clothing and they would be indistinguishable one era from another. In fact, here's a pix of Ilya's daughters-they are so beautiful, can't you just see them playing in the ladies' band?

Finally, our reward for all that sightseeing, hiking around and touring: a tasty lunch, in a cafe that brews it's own beer.

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