Ananuri
Coordinates: 42 ° 9 ′ 49 ″ N , 44 ° 42 ′ 14 ″ E
Ananuri ( Georgian ანანური ) is a castle in Georgia , near the village of the same name in the Dusheti municipality , Mtskheta-Mtianeti region , on the Georgian Military Road . It comes from the transition from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period ; its oldest parts are dated to the 13th century.
The castle, which was developed into a fortress , is located above the Shinwali reservoir (also translated as Jinvali or Shinvali ), about 60 km from Tbilisi , on the banks of the Aragwi River .
The complex includes religious, secular and military buildings. There is a Georgian Orthodox monastery in the castle . The castle has two large churches: the older, smaller Church of the Redeemer and the large Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, built in 1689 , which is characterized by rich relief decorations on the outside walls and frescoes inside.
The mighty crenellated curtain wall is by a square keep ( Scheupowari called) in the wall and several other corner towers reinforced and still in good condition. The smaller part facing the lake is ruinous and has a central, but smaller, round keep with a hexagonal pointed dome.
Ananuri was the former residence of the princes of Aragvi (dukes), in Georgian Eristawi (ერისთავი).
In front of the facility there is a large square that is used as a hitchhiking and market vendors. In the reservoir there is a bridge below the fortress, which becomes visible when the water level is low. It is part of the Georgian Heerstraße , which used to run in the area of the reservoir, but now has a new and higher route.
literature
- Thea Kvastiani, Vadim Spolanski, Andreas Sternfeldt: Discovering Georgia: on the way between the Caucasus and the Black Sea , Trescher-Verlag, 4th edition, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-89794-118-2 . Pp. 241-243
- Roger Rosen: Georgia: A Sovereign Country of the Caucasus. Odyssey Publications: Hong Kong, 1999. ISBN 962-217-748-4
- Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia , Volume 1, p. 428, Tbilisi, 1975
- Sakaraia, P. Description of Georgian History and Heritage, Volume 2. pp. 209–210, Tbilisi, 2004 (Georgian: პ. ზაქარაია, საქართველოს ისტორიისა და კულტურის ძეგლთა აღწერილობა, ტ. 2, გვ. 209-210, თბ., 2004)
Web links
- Ananuri on the UNESCO website
- Ananuri Fortress on the Georgian Army Road Private website with many pictures
- Ananuri Fortress Private website with lots of pictures
- About Sights - Ananuri Fortress website in English