World Heritage Sites - Some musings from Georgia

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It was a whistle stop three day trip to Tblisi. One very full day dominated by a single, very long business meeting and followed by life-endangering levels of the famous Georgian hospitality. The next day was a groggy outing taking in old Tblisi before working our way back to the source of some of our issues at the Chateau Mukhrani winery. The winery looked after us well with a tasting and tour, introducing us to a Chardonnay that was reminiscent of the new world - all tropical fruits, there was a robust red and a delicious fortified wine plus the obligatory cha cha with typical memory wiping properties. I get the feeling that the wine concerns run thick through the veins of Georgian culture is searching for its own niche in an European facing society and is responding to the demands for increasing levels of sophistication. The improved range of grape varieties, techniques such as the use of rediscovered use of amphorae, prevalence of amber wines, grappa (cha cha) and arrival of ice wines is quite bewildering. It appears to be following the trajectory of the country; moving away from the sweet, mass produced red wines that were exported north, to wines that will find favour and acceptance in Europe and worldwide. My sense is wine is a good metaphor for the direction of Georgia involving the preservation of heritage, the rejection of the soviet era and the grafting-on of new ideas and addition of influences from Europe and the wider world. It's not dissimilar from the architecture of Tblisi itself; the old town is a fascinating blend of influences and wonderfully preserved, the soviet era architecture has been left to rot slowly and brash but attractive advant garde buildings have been freshly installed.

On the way to the winery, we stopped at the Jvari monastery dating from the 7th century. It is located on a hill overlooking the small town of Mtskheta. The snow capped mountains can been seen at some distance from this promontory that is elevated above the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi rivers. At this time of year one river was a distinctive greeny colour while the over was more turbulent and latte-brown in colour, most likely from the snow melt. The monastery itself has all the trappings of a working orthodox church, the darkened interior lightened by small arched windows and the subdued glow of icons. Visitors slowly spun clockwise in the gloom past a large stone cross and side chapels. The interior has a rough hewn quality with cracked and missing stone worked producing a suitably ancient and mysterious feel.

The monastery had the distinction of being the 200th World Heritage Site I had visited. WHS's were never of focus or particular objective to my travel in the past and they just elicited a "oh that's kind of interesting" internal response. However, over the last few years they have become more prominent in my consciousness and I have come to actively seek them out. More often than not they have represented some startling hidden gems such a Skogskyrkogarden in Stockholm or Skara Brae in Orkney Islands. Diversity is the key aspect of WHS. In addition to temples, old towns, cathedrals, monuments and landscapes - mills, industrial landscapes, graveyards and mines are also represented. Others sites such as Stonehenge, need to be approached in a different way to enable you to see them in a new light to brush away over-familiarity.

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