Narikala Fortress

This afternoon we hiked up to Narikala fortress which sits atop one of the hills overlooking Tbilisi. The hike wasn't particularly long, but it was steep and the day was hot. I managed to get a nice sunburn on the way. Somehow or another there were Georgian women making the trek in spike heels. I must confess, I was somewhat intimidated by them.

The Narikala fortress has been home to Arab emirs, Georgians, Turks, Persians, and Russians. Apparently the Russian imperial army used to store its ammunition in the Church of St Nicholas, which is inside Narikala. In good Russian fashion, the ammunition hold accidentally exploded and blew the church up--it was just recently rebuilt.

Narikala's walls date from various periods, the earliest being the 4th century Persian citadel remanents. From the walls it is possible to get an excellent view of the city. The walls themselves are a little scary to climb on, but near death is the fun of traveling in the post-soviet space.

Not far from Narikala is Kartlis Deda (Mother Georgia). The statue is about as impressive as a 20m aluminium woman holding a sword and a cup of wine can be. On the hike to see her, we passed several wishing trees. I didn't know, but apparently tying a plastic bag to a tree counts as prayer. Near Kartlis Deda are the ruins of a 9th century Arab observatory. There's not much to see there but rubble...and honestly I didn't know what it was until I got home and whipped out my Lonely Planet Guide.

All in all it was a good day. On the way down the mountain, Lindsey and Kate called me. It was kind of surreal to be hiking in the Caucasus and talking to my friends back in Kansas at the same time...but such is the modern world. If you ever want to try it yourself, reception is best next to the giant aluminium chick.

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