3 / 5 - One review
How to get there
4 hours from Tbilissi by road
When to go
All year round
Minimum stay
1 to 2 days
Vani (Georgia)
©
Nicolas Landru
Practical information on Vani
Reviews of Vani
Vani is Georgia's most famous archaeological site The ancient capital of Colchis has given enormous treasures to archaeologists, of which a number are visible in the archaeology museum today.
My suggestion:
From Vani, make an incursion to the Lesser Caucasus range by going back up the beautiful Loknari valley to Soulori. This spa town somewhat still in its original state of the Soviet era has something special!
My review
When I came to Vani, quite an ordinary small Imereti town, green and pleasantly nestled between its hills, I wasn't aware of its importance 3,000 years ago. Colchis was then the most powerful State of the eastern shores of the Black Sea, rich in good as reflected in the myth of the Golden Fleece, that Jason and the Argonauts came to take away.
Vani produced, worked with and sold gold; at its peak, in 3 BC, it was an important religious capital. Although the ruins, updated since the 1950's, don't comprise large parts of buildings, they remain well over 16 hectares, imagine the size of this city. When you travel through this hilly region, the view of the Meskheti mountain range is superb.
The Otar Lortkipanidzé museum, name of the director of the excavations, was erected in 1985 in a rather Soviet style. Although many items have been sent to Tbilissi in the Colchis Treasure of the National Museum, the Vani museum still exhibits fine golden objects, ceramics, statuaries, weapons and tools from the Kingdom of Colchis era.
©
Nicolas Landru
