Georgian language – Georgian (ქართული ენა) is a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians. It is the official language of Georgia. Georgian is written in its own writing system, the Georgian script. Georgian is the literary language for all regional subgroups of Georgians, including those who speak other Kartvelian languages: Svans, Mingrelians and the Laz. Georgian shares a common ancestral language with Svan and Mingrelian/Laz. Georgian as separate from the other Kartvelian languages would have emerged in the 1st millennium BC in the area known later as the Kingdom of Iberia. The earliest allusion to spoken Georgian may be a passage of the Roman grammarian Marcus Cornelius Fronto in the 2nd century: Fronto imagines the Iberians addressing the emperor Marcus Aurelius in their “incomprehensible tongue”. The evolution of Georgian into a written language was a consequence of the conversion of the Georgian elite to Christianity in the mid-4th century. The new literary language was constructed on an already well-established cultural infrastructure, appropriating the functions, conventions, the literary language of pagan Georgia, and the new national religion. The first Georgian texts are inscriptions and palimpsests dating to the 5th century. Georgian has a rich literary tradition. The oldest surviving literary work in Georgian is the 5th century Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik by Iakob Tsurtaveli.

Religion – The wide variety of peoples inhabiting Georgia has meant a correspondingly rich array of active religions. Today most of the population in Georgia practices Orthodox Christianity, primarily in the Georgian Orthodox Church whose faithful make up 83.4% of the population. Around 1% belong to the Russian Orthodox Church, while about 2.9% of the population follow the Armenian Apostolic Church (Oriental Orthodoxy), almost all of which are ethnic Armenians. Adherents of Islam make up 10.7% of the population and are mainly found in the Adjara and Kvemo Kartliregions and as a sizeable minority in Tbilisi. Catholics of the Armenian and Latin churches make up around 0.8% of the population and are mainly found in the south of Georgia and a small number in Tbilisi. There is also a sizeable Jewish community in Tbilisi served by two synagogues. The Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church is one of the world’s most ancient Christian Churches, founded in the 1st century by the Apostle Andrew the First Called. In the first half of the 4th century Christianity was adopted as the state religion. This has provided a strong sense of national identity that has helped to preserve a national Georgian identity, despite repeated periods of foreign occupation and attempted assimilation. According to Orthodox tradition, Christianity was first preached in Georgia by the Apostles Simon and Andrew in the 1st century. It became the state religion of Kartli (Iberia) in 337. The conversion of Kartli to Christianity is credited to St. Nino of Cappadocia. The Georgian Orthodox Church, originally part of the Church of Antioch, gained its autocephaly and developed its doctrinal specificity progressively between the 5th and 10th centuries. The Bible was also translated into Georgian in the 5th century, as the Georgian alphabet was developed.

The Architecture  – The Architecture of Georgia refers to the styles of architecture found in Georgia. Georgian architecture is influenced by a number of architectural styles, including several each for castles, towers, fortifications and churches. The Upper Svaneti fortifications and the castle town of Shatili in Khevsureti are among the finest examples of medieval Georgian castles. Georgian medieval churches have a distinct character, though related to Armenian and Byzantine architecture, typically combining a conical dome raised high on a drum over a rectangular or cross-shaped lower structure. Often known as the “Georgian cross-dome style,” this style of architecture developed in Georgia during the 9th century. Before that, most Georgian churches were basilicas. Other architectural styles in Georgia include the Hausmannized Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi and that city’s Old Town District.

Frescoes – Georgia’s location makes the country a crossroads of cultures, from the Asiatic influence of the Persian and Ottoman Empires, its occupation under the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union. While geographers are uncertain whether to categorise Georgia as Europe or Asia, the country’s culture is distinctly European artes fine arts magazine. The history of Georgian art of painting goes back to the origin of the Georgian frescos. Georgia has a rich fresco–tradition dated back to the 4th century. From the 8th/9th century the art of frescos developed further, with the first schools of fresco-art in David Gareja and Tao-Klarjeti (this is today a part of the Turkish teritory). The motifs were strictly religious up to the 18th century, when also secular motifs started gaining ground in Georgian frescos. While Georgian mural paintings show influences from Byzantine style, during their peak in the 11-13th centuries, Georgian hagiography really began to develop its own unique style that diverged away from the Byzantine forms.

Music – Georgia has an ancient musical tradition, which is primarily known for its early development of polyphony. Georgian polyphony is based on three vocal parts, a unique tuning system based on perfect fifths, and a harmonic structure rich in parallel fifths and dissonances. Three types of polyphony have developed in Georgia: a complex version in Svaneti, a dialogue over a bass background in the Kakheti region, and a three-part partially-improvised version in western Georgia. The Georgian folk song “Chakrulo” was one of 27 musical compositions included on the Voyager Golden Records that were sent into space on Voyager 2 on 20 August 1977. The folk music of Georgia consists of at least fifteen regional styles, known in Georgian musicology and ethnomusicology as “musical dialects”.Georgian folk music is predominantly vocal and is widely known for its rich traditions of vocal polyphony. It is widely accepted in contemporary musicology that polyphony in Georgian music predates the introduction of Christianity in Georgia (beginning of the 4th century AD). All regional styles of Georgian music have traditions of vocal a cappella polyphony. Georgian polyphonic singing was among the first on the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2001. Georgian polyphonic singing was relisted on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. It was inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia registry in 2011.

Georgian dances – There are a number of Georgian dances, these folk dances of the Georgian people have a number of purposes. Two of these folk dances, Perkhuli and Khorumi, are inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Georgia list.  Georgian Folk Dances desrciptions: Davluri, Kartuli, Jeirani, Honga, Svanuri, Narnari, Kazbeguri, Kalta Mokheuri, Parikaoba, Partsa, Adjaruli, Khorumi, Kintauri, Samaya, Kokebi, Mtiuluri, Acharuli, Khanjluri, Khevsuruli. The costumes are different for every dance and resemble the clothing of the past in different regions of Georgia. The dances perfectly capture the natural gracefulness and beauty of Georgian women and the courage, honor and respectfulness of Georgian men. The male dancers perform spectacular leaps and turns, incredible spins  and can also boast a highly original technique for, unlike any other dancers in the world, they dance on their toes without the aid of “block” shoes. The female dancers “glide” like swans. See “Georgian Legend“ – Georgian National Group

Cuisine – From the top right to the left and below: Adjarian Khachapuri, Mtsvadi, Khinkali, Imeretian Khachapuri, Pkhali, Churchkhela, Shotis puri, Elarji, Mchadi, Satsivi. . . Georgian cuisine and wine have evolved through the centuries, adapting traditions in each era. One of the most unusual traditions of dining is supra, or Georgian table, which is also a way of socialising with friends and family. The head of supra is known as tamada. He also conducts the highly philosophical toasts, and makes sure that everyone is enjoying themselves. Various historical regions of Georgia are known for their particular dishes: for example, khinkali (meat dumplings), from eastern mountainous Georgia, and khachapuri, mainly from Imereti, Samegrelo and Adjara.

Georgian wine – Georgia is one of the oldest wine regions in the world. The fertile valleys and protective slopes of the Transcaucasia were home to grapevine cultivation and neolithic wine production for at least 8,000 years. Due to the many millennia of wine in Georgian history and its prominent economic role, the traditions of wine are considered entwined with and inseparable from the national identity. Among the best-known Georgian wine regions are Kakheti (further divided into the micro-regions of Telavi and Kvareli), Kartli, Imereti, Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, Adjara and Abkhazia. UNESCO added the ancient traditional Georgian winemaking method using the Kvevri clay jars to the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists. The roots of Georgian viticulture have been traced back by archeology to when people of the South Caucasus discovered that wild grape juice turned into wine when it was left buried through the winter in a shallow pit. This knowledge was nourished by experience, and from 6000 BC inhabitants of the current Georgia were cultivating grapes and burying clay vessels, kvevris, in which to store their wine ready for serving at ground temperature. When filled with the fermented juice of the harvest, the kvevris are topped with a wooden lid and then covered and sealed with earth. Some may remain entombed for up to 50 years. Wine vessels of every shape, size and design have been the crucial part of pottery in Georgia for millennia. Ancient artifacts attest to the high skill of local craftsmen. Among vessels, the most ubiquitous and unique to Georgian wine-making culture are probably the Kvevris, very large earthenware vessels with an inside coat of beeswax. Not only kvevris were used to ferment grape juice and to store up wine, but also chapiand satskhao; others yet were used for drinking, such as khelada, doki, sura, chinchila, deda-khelada, dzhami and marani.