Interesting facts about Georgia, what is special only in Georgia, facts about Georgians
Georgia is an amazing country where tourism is only gaining momentum. We have collected the most interesting facts about Georgians, peculiarities, traditions and customs of the country. Before traveling to Georgia, be sure to study them, check yourself - do you know everything about a country where no one is bored. Prepare yourself so as not to overshadow the rest with misunderstanding.
Learn more about Georgia and Georgians⬇️
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Any tourist, going on vacation to another country, is looking for at least minimal information about it, so as not to get trapped on arrival there. After all, each country differs in some way from the rest, has its own "zest". Georgia is no exception.
There is a legend about how the Georgians got this particular territory of the Earth. It so happened that at a time when God was distributing the lands among the peoples, the Georgians celebrated the creation of the world with a magnificent feast and were late to God for receiving their territory. They asked for forgiveness and explained the delay by raising cups of wine for God.
The Almighty, struck by such spontaneity, gave them a small piece of land, which he reserved for himself. And God said that this land is very beautiful, and people will always admire it. And so it turned out. The beauty of the surrounding nature in this small country is simply fascinating.
Tourists are amazed by the national hospitality and friendliness. Often, guests are greeted here as if they are the closest and beloved relatives who have finally been waited for. There are responsive policemen here, and every taxi driver is a guide who knows a lot of interesting places and legends.
Well, now about everything in order.
History, nature, sights
A few facts about Georgia that will help you learn more about this wonderful country.
- Georgia has several names. Slavs call it Georgia, Westerners — Georgia or Georgia, and Muslims — Gyurdzhistan. The Georgians themselves call their native country Sakartvelo, because in ancient times Kartvels lived here.
- In ancient times, Georgia and Spain were called the same — Iberia. The language of the Basques, the people of the north of Spain, is still similar to the language of the inhabitants of Georgia.
- Archaeological excavations confirm that people lived on the territory of modern Georgia as early as 1.7 million years ago. The oldest human remains were discovered in 1991 in Georgia, in Dmanisi.
- On the territory of Georgia, archaeologists have found the oldest vine and the remains of wine vessels. This suggests that Georgia can be considered the birthplace of viticulture and winemaking. And in Kakheti, a bronze figure of a man was found holding a cup of wine in his hand. And this find dates back to the VII century BC.
- There are many centenarians in Georgia. Georgians themselves believe that the reason for this is their hospitality. The time that the host will devote to the guest does not count towards the age of living. It is quite possible that this is why in Georgia you are persistently invited to visit immediately after acquaintance.
- Georgians adopted Christianity earlier than Kievan Rus. This happened at the beginning of the IV century thanks to Saint Nino, who lived out her last years here and died in the town of Bodbe. Later, the church of St. George was erected over her grave, and after a while a monastery appeared on this place, in which the relics of St. Nino are kept.
- Christianity is still the main religion of Georgia. Georgians are very religious people, they honor all religious holidays and observe ancient customs.
- Homeland for Georgians is not an empty phrase, they love their country very much. Even living far beyond its borders, they remember national traditions and do not forget their origin.
- The events from the ancient Greek legend about Jason's abduction of the Golden Fleece took place on the territory of present-day Georgia.
- The Greeks originally called Georgia the Land of the Rising Sun.
- The legend of Prometheus is also connected with Georgia. It is believed that the Greek hero who gave fire to people was chained to Mount Khvamli in Lechkhumi. There is even a Prometheus cave in the area of the Tskaltubo resort, where there are always a lot of tourists.
- The village of Ushguli in Upper Svaneti is considered one of the highest in the world. Here, at an altitude of 2200-2300 meters, people live constantly.
- Georgia has not only a very beautiful nature, it also contributes to health improvement. There are about 2500 mineral water springs here.
- There is practically no bureaucracy in Georgia, cases are solved fairly quickly and with a minimum of documents. Which contributes to the absence of corruption.
- Housing and communal services and homeowners' associations have been abolished here as unnecessary and to reduce bureaucratic red tape.
- Winter in some places of Georgia happens without snow. Therefore, for example, in Batumi or Tbilisi, if it suddenly snows, then people go out into the streets to admire it and are very happy about such a rare event.
- Georgian M. Kantaria was among the three Red Army soldiers who hoisted the Banner of Victory over the Reichstag in May 1945.
- Some famous personalities were born in Georgia. Among them are the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky and the current Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
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Traditions and customs
- In Georgia, they treat their elders very respectfully, but at the same time they often call them by their first names. Even children address their parents by their first name, because it is so accepted and quite natural here.
- Any family traditions and ties are strong here. Very often the word of the father is a law that must be strictly observed.
- If a Georgian child calls Dad, he pronounces "mom". Such an appeal to the pope often surprises tourists who hear such an appeal from children on the streets of Georgian villages and cities. And mom is "dad". There are also "babua" and "bebua" — which, respectively, translates as grandfather and grandmother.
- Here, not only ordinary people on the streets, but also police officers are friendly to guests. They are always ready to help if necessary. For example, if you come to visit by car (and a Georgian feast simply does not happen without wine) and you need to go back to your place, then you can not leave the car, but contact a policeman who will become your "sober driver".
- In Georgian houses, guests are not offered to take off their shoes. On the contrary, the hostess may be offended if you start taking off street shoes or ask for slippers.
- To treat the guest, everything that is in the house is put on the table, it can also be the latest supplies if the family is not very wealthy. But the guest will never stay hungry. And the overnight stay, if necessary, is guaranteed to him.
- Weddings are celebrated here on a huge scale and with a large number of guests. There are not only relatives and friends there, but also friends of friends, and sometimes very unfamiliar people. You cannot refuse an invitation. If you were honored and invited to a wedding celebration, you just have to go. Otherwise, you will offend the owners very much.
- There is a wedding custom that many women like. The fact is that the groom's relatives should give the bride gold jewelry. It is impossible to break this tradition.
- And in the XXI century, the bride is sometimes stolen. But this happens by prior agreement and consent. This is how they pay tribute to ancient traditions and customs.
- Sometimes, watching Georgians eat with their hands in a restaurant, you might think that they do not know how to use cutlery. But no. Some dishes need to be eaten only with your hands, for example, khinkali or shish kebab. And if you take a fork or a spoon to taste these dishes, you simply will not be understood.
- Georgians often live one day: today they walk with friends, spend every last penny, and tomorrow they decide how and what to live on.
- A Georgian feast is impossible without a toastmaster and long toasts. A toast is often a whole story, and not just an offer to drink to health or to love.
- Many of us are familiar with the dish of Georgian cuisine "Chicken tobacco". So, it would be more correct to say "tapaka chicken" — from the name of the frying pan in which this dish was previously cooked. But over time, they began to pronounce "chicken tobacco".
- Georgian housewives without any hesitation hang out their laundry to dry for all the neighbors to see. In any courtyard in Tbilisi, you can see rows of ropes stretched between balconies or even fixed to nearby poles that are hung with linen.
- Georgians can be very enterprising, they like to trade and bargain. You need to discuss the price everywhere: at the market, with a taxi driver, when ordering some services. If the market immediately agrees with the named price, the seller may take offense at you.
- At a meeting, Georgians kiss on the cheek. So, when you see two Georgian men kissing, do not be surprised — this is a tribute to a person, this is the tradition of greeting.
- There are three very enterprising brothers from Georgia: Alexi, David and Sergo Mdivani. They became the most famous marriage scammers in the 20-30s of the last century. The brothers repeatedly married rich and famous women from different countries and were able to enrich themselves by half a billion dollars.
- There is no central heating and hot water supply in Georgian houses. Each owner installs heating and heating devices himself.
- In high—rise buildings, an elevator is a paid service. Inside there is a device for accepting payment. If you don't pay, the elevator won't go. In some houses, the elevator is locked, and the fee is charged per month. Each family that has made the payment has its own key. This money is usually used to maintain the elevator in working condition.
- Classes for schoolchildren in Tbilisi do not begin on September 1, as we are used to. There is no exact date at all, usually the academic year in Georgian schools starts on September 17-21. It depends on how hot the weather is outside.
- Livestock feels very at ease on the streets and roads of Georgia. Cows, goats, and sheep walk freely, while often interfering with the movement of cars. But they do not cause any special "complaints" from local residents and they themselves do not pay any attention to the sound signals of cars.
Tourism
- Tourism has been actively developing in Georgia since the beginning of the XXI century. In a short period of time, a lot has been done to attract tourists here. Routes have been developed, hotels have been built, and ski tourism is developing rapidly. There are already 5 ski resorts operating in this small country.
- In Georgia, you can easily travel for free — hitchhiking. They will be happy to give you a ride, and they will also tell you many interesting stories from life, legends, tell you about local attractions.
- By the way, visiting the sights is very often free. And if there is a need to pay, the price is usually low.
- All representatives of the older generation speak Russian in Georgia, because they learned it at school. But young people are more focused on English. But recently the flow of Russian-speaking tourists to the country has been increasing, so the need for workers in the tourism sector with knowledge of Russian is also increasing.
- Sometimes it is believed that Georgians treat Russians badly, but for the most part this is not the case. Politics and the attitudes of ordinary people are two big differences. The nationality of a good person does not matter.
- Russian citizens can easily obtain Georgian citizenship without giving up Russian citizenship. That is, they can have dual citizenship. But Georgians can't do that.
Linguistics and Counting
- In the Georgian language, there are no accents on any one letter familiar to us, there are no capital letters, masculine or feminine. Sometimes it can only be clear from the context that "he or she" is being discussed.
- The Georgian language is very beautiful, but at the same time complex. Often there are words with a large number of consecutive consonant letters. For example, there is a word where eight consonants follow each other — gvprtskvnis, which in Russian means “he cleanses us.” And in the poem “The Knight in the Tiger's skin” there is a word in which eleven consonants stand one after another at once — vefkhvtmbrdgvneli, which translates as “killing a lion". How do I pronounce this?
- Georgia uses a twenty-digit numerical system. That is, the score goes up to 20. And to name a number greater than 20, for example, 37 — say twenty and seventeen, 62 — three times 20 and two.
- The Georgian language is characterized by the absence of feminine, masculine and neuter gender. Nouns are not based on pronouns “he, she, it", only the indicative particle “is” is used. To determine the gender of a verb, noun or adjective, you need to use additional words in the sentence. This technique makes the size of the Georgian phrase larger than its translation into Russian.
- Another feature of the national language of Georgia is the prefix and suffixation in the conjugation and declension of verbs. As a result, there is a variety of verb forms and single-root words with a large number of morphemes, so there are many verbs with a common verb base in the Georgian language.
Music
- A very beautiful Georgian song "Chakrula" was sent into space by the Americans back in 1976. This was done so that alien civilizations could appreciate the musical talents of the inhabitants of planet Earth.
- Singer from England, a native of Georgia Katie Melua in 2006 got into the Guinness Book of Records, holding a concert underwater in the North Sea, at a depth of 303 meters. Her CDs became the best-selling in Europe and England in the same year.
- And Georgian folk songs and dances are considered masterpieces of the world cultural heritage recognized by UNESCO.
- A characteristic feature of Georgian music is polyphonic folk singing, that is, simultaneous sounding in a certain melodic sequence. Historically, men have been engaged in folk and church singing.
- Most often, three or four voices are performed simultaneously in Georgian folk music, while the regions develop their own technique of homophony and polyphony, for example, in Guria each voice sounds individually. There are more than 15 types of Georgian polyphony.
Georgia is a wonderful and amazing country that always welcomes with warmth all the guests who come here to relax and learn a lot of new and interesting things. And much of what surprises tourists in Georgia is everyday life for locals. But one thing remains unchanged: no one is ever bored here!
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