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Published: September 27th 2023
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Day 21 Udabno to Sighnaghi, Georgia. Vines, Nuts and Religious Nuts.
After a breakfast of coffee, bread and Mars Bar, we paint sketches of Udabno towns stark buildings and landscape here within a moorland plain, in pleasant isolation.
As we drive north away from Udabno for a day’s outing in our hire car, we notice landmarks which we failed to spot on our entrance to town.
There’s a miniature Svaneti tower build above the sign board for the town at the side of the road. It’s relatively new, as a monument to the eco migrants who came here.
It is clearly the right shape, like those we saw in Mestia in 2016, but with lighter construction as a monument rather than a place to retreat to in times of attack.
Over the next range of hills there is a lake divided by the road. The smaller one to the east is dry, the one to the west is one third full of water and there’s a salt
Y white crust along its shore line. Water is a big issue around here.
As we descend we notice, for the first time, acres of
young tree plantations, established in grids across the grassland. They are almond trees, we read. A ‘2,000 hectare almond orchard is managed using technologies of the highest quality and serves as a platform of knowledge exchange between Georgian professionals in the field and international experts. The orchard is expanding every year and by developing an almond nursery, the company plans to fully cultivate the plants in-house.
Currently, the following Spanish and Italian almond varieties are grown: Supernova, Genco, Guara, Soleta, and Lauranne. By the year 2021-22, the harvest from the orchard reache 800 tonnes and will be exported as well as usold on the Georgian market, making Udabno one of the biggest almond producers in the Caucasian region. 675,000 trees are planted in the orchard.
The Adjara group is a Georgian / Dutch commercial enterprise with fingers in many pies (they own a hôtel group as well). They have sought IFIS, EU and USAID finance, a
They are ’fighting desertification in by managing water resources, adopting organic practices. There are new walnuts orchards, strawberries, blueberries, 74 buffalo, 285 cows and 1500 sheep, and, of course, vines.
We had noticed a large compound of agricultural machinery on
our way here and had joked about The Archers on Radio 4 and the entrepreneurial spirit of Josh (?) buying and selling combine harvesters and the like. But It’s all part of this operation.
The animal herding is with men/women on horseback who seem to spend the whole day with their livestock in unfenced territory.
On to the main highway, the Wine Route heading south east to Sighnaghi, on a pilgrimage. It’s clear that the ‘vendage’ has started. There are wagons full of white grass thundering along past roadside fruit sellers with watermelon, nuts, hones, potatoes and ..... grapes.
The road surfaces are much better than Armenia, and the crazy driving slightly moderated. We reach our destination: the Monastery of St. Nino at Bodbe, a Georgian Orthodox monastic complex and the seat of the Bishops of Bodbe.
Unlike anywhere else we have been on the whole trip this place has the feel of enterprise and tourist management about it. There is a multi-story car park. There is a large ‘Pilgramage’ restaurant (closed), extensive market garden, and beautifully manicured buildings and terraced lawns.
And yet, beyond a 6p fee for
the toilet and 66p fee for the car park there is no entrance cost. Where does all the money for this infrastructure come from?
The monks and nuns are on the grumpy side, perhaps they’d not like so many tourist pilgrims.
According to Georgian Orthodox tradition, Saint Nino - a 4th-century female evangelist who Christianized Georgia settled in the Bodbe area after her mission, and died there.
Monastery was originally built in the 9th century. The site has been rebuilt and renovated numerous times throughout both medieval and modern periods. In 1889 nunnery was founded in Bodbe, a result of the visit of Tsar Alexander III of Russia. During Soviet era monastery functioned as a hospital. Since 1991, the working monastery started functioning again.
Impressive cypress trees dominate the site, overlooking the Alazani river valley from the hills of the Gombori mountains.
The interior of the older and smaller church are covered in darkened murals which look very ancient, and it has an ornate iconoclast. The exterior looks brand new. There’s a team of masons on site so renovation must be an on-going process here. There are beautifully carved decorative pillars and panels in stone
within the terracotta brick work on all the buildings.
The entrance portico of the larger newer church is filled with wooden scaffolding for a muralist to paint its domed ceiling. There are pencilled scenes on the plasterwork ready to be elaborated upon.
Inside is completely white, all ready for decorative scenes in the years to come.
We walk around the lawns and wonder at the size of the aubergine plot within the potager in terraces retained by traditional brick and stone walling.
The views over agriculture plains a long way below are to the massive Caucasus mountains to the north, and are breathtaking
We nip into town, Sighnaghi, and stroll around. It, like the monastery, is in good nick..... a great deal of renovation with traditional balconied buildings.
Back home for five pm, beer and crisp apéro, then to Oasis Restaurant for an excellent scoff.
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