Vardzia Bashny.Net

Vardzia - cave city in Georgia of Queen Tamar, which was built more than eight years ago





In 1185 the Georgian ascended the throne, Tamara. A female ruler was uncommon not only for Georgia but for the whole of Europe of the twelfth century. However, her reign was accompanied by a flowering of culture. Tamara wished to build a monastery, but there was a problem: the Mongols.



Mongolian empire grew steadily, and a small Georgia was under constant threat. Then the queen had the idea to carve a monastery in the rock.



In the twelfth century as a large-scale construction required enormous physical effort. The motivation served the Christian faith and the desire to protect their way of life and culture of the Mongol invasion.
Natural caves and carved expanded 13 more levels to create more than 6,000 residential spaces. To get to this underground kingdom could only be through a secret tunnel that began in a nearby river Mtkvari.



External earth hidden in a mountain monastery had a high fertility. The monks even established a system of irrigation and water supply. Perhaps it was the first example of a self-sufficient (in terms of food and water) structures in Europe, which also has an impregnable.











































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