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| Bolnissi | ||
| region | Kwemo Kartli | |
|---|---|---|
| Residents | 8.967 (2014) | |
| height | 0 m | |
no tourist info on Wikidata:  | ||
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Bolnissi is a city in Kwemo Kartli and capital of the administrative district of the same name (Raiones). The city goes back to a foundation by Caucasian-German settlers under the name Katharinenfeld in 1818, from 1921 to 1944 it was called Luxemburg (after Rosa Luxemburg). The current name comes from the nearby Bolnissier Sioni church from the 5th century.
background
history
In the spring of 1817, a large wave of radical Pietists from Württemberg emigrated who wanted to flee from being tamed by the authorities. At that time they were called "separatists" because they split off from the regional church. It was even more driven by the hope of the imminent return of Christ, inspired by religious apocalyptic sentiments. The Pietists located the goal of fleeing the distress caused by the disbelieving environment in the Caucasus because the Russian Tsar Alexander had promised support. The first group of 65 families managed to settle 25 kilometers southwest of Tbilisi in a river valley. Two other groups initially settled 180 kilometers southeast of Tbilisi in the climatically unhealthy place Schamkor (Alt-Katharinenfeld). Many died of epidemics the following summer, the remaining settlers moved in the winter of 1819 to what is now Bolnisi, which they called Neu-Katharinenfeld, a few kilometers from the Sioni Church. An Armenian and Greek pilgrimage site was located here on a "Georgsberg".
The name Katharinenfeld was to honor the Württemberg Queen Katharina, the sister of Tsar Alexander I. During a Muslim uprising in the South Caucasus in 1826, the city was attacked by Muslim rioters. Numerous residents were killed or taken to Turkey as slaves. To commemorate this incident and the subsequent reconstruction, a "construction party" was celebrated annually. In the village there were five football teams, a German newspaper, a primary school, a Lutheran church with a choir, a hunting club, a theater group and a city park. [2] Overall, the settlers soon experienced an economic boom and lived a lively community life. In 1854 they consecrated a church in the middle of the Crimean War.
After the occupation of Georgia by the Red Army in 1921, the name was changed in Luxembourg in honor of the socialist freedom fighter Rosa Luxemburg. In 1941 all Caucasian Germans who were not married to Georgians were deported to Siberia and Kazakhstan. Almost 6,000 people had to leave the city. In 1944 the city was named Bolnissi. The tower of the Protestant church was demolished by German prisoners of war after World War II, and the church was converted into a sports hall. There are currently plans to build a new sports hall and to rebuild the church tower.
Today 85 percent of the population are Georgians. The city lives from viticulture and from growing fruit and vegetables. There is a winery and a brewery. A district that is predominantly inhabited by ethnic Azerbaijanis is located a little outside the main settlement and is called "Kvemo Bolnissi" (German: Unter-Bolnisi). Gold is mined in the nearby village of Ratewani. The football club is called Sioni Bolnissi.
The cultural heritage of the former German settlers in Bolnisi is now mainly carried by the community of the Protestant church. In the Protestant parish hall there is a small German-language library and a museum room in which the German history of the city is reported. Some of the services are held in German. Most Evangelical Christians in Georgia come from mixed marriages between Caucasian Germans and other peoples.
Bolnisi is home to one of the oldest Christian churches in Georgia. The Sioni Church dates from the 5th century. Pagan elements can be seen in its masonry. The original roof has been replaced by a covering from the 20th century.
A bilingual plaque commemorates the fate of the German residents in the center of the city.
In the 1990s, after earthquakes and landslides, several hundred people from Ratscha and Svaneti settled in Bolnissi.
orientation
The city of Bolnissi is located along the Marneuli-Guguti trunk road and almost all important buildings are on this road. In the east of the city there is a larger settlement of typical apartment blocks from the 1970s, the rest of the city is dominated by row and single-family houses. Especially in the north of the city, numerous new houses have been built by wealthy Georgians in recent years. In the south of the city the Maschawera (Moschawer) flows and limits it. From the city center, Sioni Street leads south into the valley of the Bolnissi River to the Sioni Church and to Zughrughascheni.
If you reach Bolnissi from the east - i.e. from Tbilisi / Marneuli - there are two columns with the Bolnissi cross at the entrance to the village. Right next to it there is a small parking lot with a few information boards and a large city map on which all streets and house numbers are marked.
getting there
By plane
The nearest airport with scheduled services is in Tbilisi
By train
The city's train station is about 2 km south of the city center on the other side of the Maschawera (Moshaver) river, however there is on the railway line Marneuli-Bolnissi-Kasreti currently no passenger service.
By bus
From Tbilisi minibuses run from the bus station in Ortachala several times a day to Bolnissi, it is also possible to catch minibuses in Marneuli that go via Bolnissi to Kasreti or Dmanissi drive. The bus station in Bolnissi is about a kilometer east of the city center.
In the street
The trunk road ს 6 (part of the E 117) leads from Tbilisi via Marneuli directly through Bolnissi and on to Armenian border, the journey from Tbilisi to Bolnissi is around 90 minutes. The regional road შ 35 connects Bolnissi with the small town Tetrizkaro north, but this connection is neither signposted nor in good condition. The ravine of the Chrami river has to be crossed on the less than 30 km short stretch. On both sides the road is unpaved and provided with large potholes and has steep gradients; an off-road vehicle is essential.
Parking is easy and free in the city.
Gas stations
- a small private one (Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str.153a)
- 4 Socar, Fernstraße ს 6 at the eastern entrance to the village. Open: 24/7.
also with a café and mini market.
mobility
The city itself is best explored on foot, but a car is required to get around the area. You can charter inexpensive taxis in Bolnissi for excursions to the Sioni Church, Zughrughascheni or Dmanissi. On the back roads with little traffic, passing cars like to pick up hitchhikers.
Tourist Attractions
Bolnissi
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In Bolnissi there are still some old houses from the German settlement period with their typical cellar vaults and wooden balconies, but some of them are in a devastating state of preservation. Important sights in the city are:
- The former Protestant church that lost its tower and is now a sports hall (corner Merab Kostava / Giorgi Saakadse)
- The regional ethnographic museum (Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str. 95, Tel 995 258 22994) with interesting historical finds from antiquity and the Middle Ages as well as old everyday objects and a "German Corner", where the settlement movement is documented. The museum suffers from a chronic lack of money and visitors, but these poor conditions are more than made up for by the commitment of the staff. There are guided tours in Georgian and Russian; foreigners come by, but it is not uncommon for someone to be quickly brought in from the neighborhood who can speak a few words in English or even German. Opening times Tue-Sun 10 a.m.-6 p.m., entry 1 Lari.
- In the city center there are some remarkable public buildings from the Soviet era:
- The former cinema opposite the museum (Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str 102b)
- The old restaurant in the form of a glass pyramid, today a ruin (Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str. 131).
- The courthouse (Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str. 113)
- The Town Hall (Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str. 106)
- In the city center there is also the Park of Culture and Recreation, once the "Pleasure Garden" (Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str. 151).
- The Orthodox Church of St. George (Tsminda Giorgis Eklesia), corner of Vachtang Gorgasali / Zminda Nino Str.
- The Orthodox Nikolauskirche (Tsminda Nikolosi Eklesia) with cemetery, on the northern outskirts on Atoni Street, which leads to Tetrizkaro
- A newfangled "Svaneti Tower", which was supposed to be a restaurant one day (Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str. 78), reminds of the settlers Ratchet and Svanetiwho moved here after earthquakes and landslides in the 1990s.
Surroundings
The area around Bolnissi offers several historical churches and castle ruins, the most important of which are:
- 1 Bolniss Sioni Church (ბოლნისის სიონი, Bolnisis Sioni), Sopeli Bolnisi (Bolnissi village), regional road შ 154.
The Sioni Church is located about 10 km south of the city of Bolnissi, just before the beginning of the village Bolnisi on the left side of the road. It was built in 478-193 and is considered the oldest church in Georgia. It is a three-aisled basilica, the walls are clad with carved turquoise-blue square stone. The three naves are separated by five columns and the apse is semicircular. The Georgian inscriptions on the church are famous; together with those from Bethlehem, they are the oldest historical evidence of Georgian writing. The Bolnissi Cross also comes from the Bolnissier Sioni Church, which today - alongside the cross of Saint Nino (grapevine cross) - is often used by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
- 2 Zughrughasheni (წუღრუღაშენი), Sopeli Bolnisi (Bolnissi village), regional road შ 154.
-1.jpg/319px-Tsugrugasheni_church_(Photo_A._Muhranoff,_2011)-1.jpg)
Zughrughascheni is another 5 km from Bolnisis Sioni, in the village 2 km after Bolnisis Sioni you have to turn left onto a small gravel road and follow it to the end. The church was built from 1212 to 1222, it is stylistically similar to other churches from the time, such as Betania, Kwatachewi, Pitareti. But it is a bit smaller and has a higher dome. The floor plan of the building is rectangular. The apse is flanked by two two-story adjoining rooms. The church is richly decorated with traditional Georgian ornaments, especially on the dome, with King Giorgi and, as the builder of the church, Hasan, son of Arsenic, named in an inscription.
- 3 Kweschi (ქვეში), Sopeli Kveshi (Kweschi Village).
The Kweschi castle ruins (9th-17th centuries) are located about 15 km west of Bolnissi on the road ს 6 / E 117 shortly after the village of the same name on the right of the road. The ruin can be seen clearly from the road, and detailed directions in English are available here.
The Aruchlo archaeological site is located in the village of Nachiduri, 20 km east of Bolnissi. Since 2005, the German Archaeological Institute has been carrying out excavations on an early Neolithic settlement mound in order to gain knowledge about the process of Neolithization in the Caucasus region.
activities
- Hiking: If you drive the road from the Sioni church to the end of the village of Poladauri, you can hike to the Armenian border at Achrepi (approx. 15-20 km), on the way you come to the historic "White Bridge" (თეთრი ხიდი, Tetri Chidi) over.
shop
In Bolnissi there are numerous smaller and larger private mini markets that carry all the necessary goods for daily needs and are partly open around the clock. There are no branches of the larger supermarket chains (Ioli, Populi, Nikora). The city's fruit and vegetable market is right next to the Park for Culture and Recreation at the intersection of Vascha-Pschawela / Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani. There are also some car repair shops on the western and eastern outskirts of the city, where you can also get common spare parts and oil.
Kitchen and accommodation
Bolnissi is close to Tbilisi, there are practically no hotels and restaurants. In 2013, however, a good hotel-restaurant opened in the former Deutsche Mühle. By trying to establish Bolnissi as a tourist destination, especially with the help of the German heritage, it is to be hoped that lower-priced private quarters will also open in the coming years.
- 1 Hotel and restaurant Deutsche Mühle Bolnisi, Sioni Str 4. E-mail: [email protected]. Price: DR from GEL 210, meals from GEL 10.
- There is also a small beer bar with the local Bolnisi beer on tap and a small selection of dishes right next to the park for culture and relaxation
nightlife
You will look in vain for discos and rambazamba in Bolnissi. Every now and then, German church services take place in the Protestant parish hall, and Protestant holidays are also celebrated in the rest of the city.
Work
Archaeologists can try their hand at the excavation sites of the old Kasreti gold mine and the Aruchlo archaeological site, otherwise there are no employment opportunities for foreigners - apart from volunteer work in the Protestant parish.
security
Bolnissi is very safe, there is nothing to worry about when it comes to crime. However, there were isolated, localized incidents in the region in 2012/13 between radical supporters of the Orthodox Church and Muslims living in the region. It is advisable when you are in a Muslim village to keep your eyes open and avoid crowds so as not to suddenly find yourself in the middle of a riot.
The Bolnissi Police Station is located at 12 Sioni Street.
health
There are a handful of pharmacies in town that stock the most common medicines.
Practical advice
Due to the long German history of the city, German is still very popular with Georgians as a foreign language, many people are happy to be able to try out their rudimentary knowledge of German with a native speaker and can become extremely sociable, which can be annoying at times.
The common mobile phone providers have very good network coverage in Bolnissi and the surrounding area. You can easily top up credit at one of the numerous machines, but SIM cards are not available for purchase. The local post office is located at Sulchan-Saba Orbeliani Str. 142.
trips
- Bolnissi is together with the churches Sioni and Zughrughascheni as well as the castle ruins and the archaeological site Dmanissi convenient to visit in a day trip from Tbilisi.
- One of the access routes to the church Pitaretiwho are in the Raion Tetrizkaro runs from Bolnissi via Kweschi and Tandsia. However (as of Nov. 2013) the footbridge over the Schawzkala river has been destroyed.
- Other former German settlements in the area: Assureti (Elisabethtal) - district Tetrizkaro, Tamarisi (Grape Mountain) - at Marneuli, Sartichala (Marienfeld) - at Sagaredscho.
literature
- Goethe Institute: History of the German settlers in the Caucasus
Web links
- Bolnissi on Wikipedia
- Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bolnissi
