Tsmindagiorgi

Now, I want to tell you about my lovely town Giorgitsminda and its site which is called Tsmindagiorgi (there was a time I confused these two names). My great grandfather settled there in Giorgitsminda long time ago and his house is still the place where all his sons and their children and grandchildren gather on holidays and days like that.

Giorgitsminda

There is a town near Tbilisi, whre Kakheti region begins, it is called Sagarejo. And one of the villages there is Giorgitsminda. It means "Saint George (Giorgi)" in Georgian. According to 2002,  2,562 people live there. Giorgitsminda is located on the south of the Gombori range _ it is a mountain range in the Georgian section of Greater Caucasus mountains. It is located in the province of Kakheti, eastern Georgia, and stretches to the distance of 107 km, with the highest mountain being at 1.991 metres above sea level. Gombori range  serves as a watershed, separating the Alazani and Iori river valleys. Giorgitsminda is situated on the left side of river Tsipliskhevi, approximately 750 metres above the sea level. It is three kilometres far from Sagarejo.

There is a church in the hills of Giorgitsminda. It is very simple and small. And there is this whole path to walk until you get on its top, where the church is. It has an inscription above the entrance door, where we read, that the church was built by priest Ivane Kevlishvili in 1800. 

Our tradition

Every year in summer, and, to be exact, in August, me and my family and cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents go there. It is our tradition. Mainly, it's about giving thanks for our crops. It's a great place, as it is on a hill and woods surround it and it's cool in summer. The air is almost crisp and the water is cold as ice _ which you can drink by the way! And there are pine trees (I think it is one of the fewest places where pine trees are) rising just from the stones! 

So, in every August, somewhere in the middle of the month or so, we gather together and go to this Tsmindagiorgi Church. There are whole preparations for this day.In general, everyone or most of the families bring chickens there. And they usually are pretty big and heavy. Then, there’s this thing that everyone somehow knows what to bring. They usually bring things that others don’t bring. For example, one brings watermelon, the others _ tomatoes and cucumbers and so on. And basically, you won’t see similar foods there. And that is great, of course.

We go uphill to this church and light the candles and pray and then there comes this tradition of going around the church three times with those chickensin our hands. Everyone goes around the church and then we go downhill to the specially built tables with benches and stuff and we gather there. This is one of the major events in our family and everyone tries to be present there on that day. We have fun together and just eat and talk, etc.

The nature is amazing there in Tsmindagiorgi. Because of those trees and stuff, there’s this coolness there and you feel comfortable even though it’s really hot outside (I mean, out of that place, nearby). So, if you have a chance to visit those places somewhere nearby, make sure you go to Tsmindagiorgi and just enjoy the great nature and drink that cold fresh water and just relax there!

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