Roaming Around Georgia
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Roaming Around Georgia

Light that arrives horizontally

Eight days in the eastern regions. Mtskheta, Gori, Uplistsikhe, the Alazani valley. A country where the landscape is theological and the food is an argument for staying. The light in the late afternoon is the reason for all of it.

55 images
Georgia
The Jvari Monastery on its hilltop above the Mtkvari river confluence 1 / 55
Mtskheta seen from above: the ancient capital small below its former scale 2 / 55
A roadside khinkali vendor under a corrugated iron roof, steam rising 3 / 55
The cave city of Uplistsikhe: chambers cut from sandstone, empty for centuries 4 / 55
Horizontal light on the Alazani valley: vineyards in their autumn colour 5 / 55
A Georgian Orthodox ceremony in a small stone church, candlelight only 6 / 55
Signagi city walls running along the ridge above the Alazani plain 7 / 55
A local wine cellar: the kvevri sealed in the floor, only the rims visible 8 / 55
Old Tbilisi from across the Mtkvari: the balconied houses on the steep bank 9 / 55
The Narikala fortress walls catching the last sun of the afternoon 10 / 55
A sulphur bath dome in Abanotubani: the domed rooftop and steam 11 / 55
A shepherd driving sheep on a mountain road in the Caucasus foothills 12 / 55
The Stalin Museum in Gori: the exterior pompous, the light indifferent 13 / 55
A nut and dried fruit market stall in Tbilisi: abundance arranged precisely 14 / 55
The Mtkvari river from the Metekhi bridge at sunset 15 / 55
A woman in traditional Georgian dress at a folk festival, in motion 16 / 55
The Bridge of Peace in Tbilisi: the glass and steel against the old city 17 / 55
A polyphonic choir in a Tbilisi courtyard, the sound visible in the group posture 18 / 55
Vineyard rows in Kakheti, the mountains in the background still snow-capped 19 / 55
A monastery refectory table set for a communal meal, long and bare 20 / 55
The Alaverdi Cathedral: scale as theology, the nave deep and high 21 / 55
A shepherd's stone watchtower in the Caucasus, the view from its base 22 / 55
Children in a Telavi schoolyard at break, the mountains visible between buildings 23 / 55
A Tbilisi balcony in the old town: the wooden carving worn but intact 24 / 55
An open-air market in Gori: the goods laid on the ground, the vendors seated 25 / 55
The Gori fortress at midday, the heat making the stones shimmer 26 / 55
A woman pressing churchkhela in a village workshop, the mould dripping 27 / 55
Mountain road through the Trialeti range: the tarmac ending, the gravel beginning 28 / 55
A Georgian toast being given at a supra: the tamada standing, the table full 29 / 55
The Bodbe Monastery garden: the formal beds in a landscape that is anything but 30 / 55
A Kakheti wine cellar at dusk: the marani lit from below, amber and stone 31 / 55
Old men playing nardi in a Tbilisi park, the board between them on a low table 32 / 55
The medieval towers of Svaneti visible on the horizon through mountain haze 33 / 55
A village baker pulling shoti from a tone oven, the long paddle steady 34 / 55
The Rioni river valley in late afternoon, the mist already forming below 35 / 55
A Georgian icon in a small country church, gold leaf catching a candle 36 / 55
The Dariali Gorge: sheer walls and a fast river and no room for anything else 37 / 55
Ruins of a caravanserai on the old Silk Road, the arch still standing 38 / 55
A Tbilisi street at night: the neon signs and the old stonework in the same frame 39 / 55
A high pasture in the Caucasus: the grass short, the sky very near 40 / 55
A roadside shrine: fresh flowers, a candle, and a saint's image in a glass case 41 / 55
The Shida Kartli plain from a low ridge: fields and rivers and no horizon 42 / 55
A Tbilisi courtyard at midday: the shade deep, a cat in the sunniest corner 43 / 55
The Kura gorge as seen from the Atenis Sioni approach road 44 / 55
A group of pilgrims ascending to a mountain monastery, the path steep 45 / 55
The view from Narikala at dusk: the city below, the light going 46 / 55
Tbilisi market seller holding out dried figs, the light behind her 47 / 55
A country road between two ridge lines, the destination not yet visible 48 / 55
The Mtkvari at its widest point, the far bank a different colour of stone 49 / 55
A Signagi wine bar at closing time: the last two people and the last glass 50 / 55
Autumn fog in the Alazani valley, the vine rows disappearing into it 51 / 55
A stone cross at a mountain pass, the wind bending the offerings tied to it 52 / 55
The Tbilisi funicular upper station at night, the city spread below 53 / 55
A fresco in the Gelati monastery: the colour faded but the figures insistent 54 / 55
Final image: the road leaving Georgia, the Caucasus still visible in the mirror 55 / 55
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