Interesting nature reserves in Georgia. Visit the archaeological museum-reserve of Vani.

In the XII-II centuries BC there was a Colchian kingdom on the territory of Western Georgia, which in ancient sources was referred to as "Gold-rich Colchis". The territory of the Colchian Kingdom covered the territories of modern Abkhazia, Samegrelo, Svaneti, Racha, Imereti, Guria, Adjara, some regions of the modern Russian Federation (the cities of Sochi and Tuapse), a significant part of the northern provinces of Turkey. Vani was the most important city and a major transit center of ancient Colchis. Numerous and diverse artifacts discovered as a result of archaeological excavations indicate that initially (VI- IV centuries AD) Vani was a skeptukhia — the center of the administrative unit of the Colchian kingdom, where the residence of the rulers was located. In the subsequent period (II-I centuries BC), Vani was a large religious center.

The first archaeological excavations in Vani took place in 1896 on the initiative of Ekvtime Takaishvili. In 1947, the Van Archaeological Expedition was established under the leadership of Nino Khoshtaria. From 1966 until his death (2002), the expedition was led by Otar Lordkipanidze, on whose initiative and with his direct participation the Van Archaeological Museum-Reserve (area – 8.5 hectares) was created. Excavations on the territory of the old city revealed the richest historical material: religious and residential buildings, sculptures of religious and cultural purposes, local and Greek ceramics, rich burials, unique examples of jewelry art (tiaras, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, pendants, heraldic images, bowls ...). These finds are currently stored in the Archaeological museum-reserve of Vani.

In 2007, Vani was included in the preliminary list of UNESCO World Cultural Heritage sites.