3077 GEORGIA - The map and the flag of the country

Located in the Caucasus region, at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, Georgia is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the south by Turkey and Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi, founded in the 5th century AD by Vakhtang I Gorgasali, the monarch of the Kingdom of Iberia, on the banks of the Kura River. The country is divided into 9 regions, 1 city, and 2 autonomous republics, but de facto Abkhazia and South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia.

2801 ABKHAZIA - Gegsky waterfall

Almost the entire territory of Abkhazia hold high mountain ranges. The main ridge of the Greater Caucasus in the north-western border of Abkhazia, at the origins of Auadhare River, rises to a height of 2500m above sea level, on the eastern border of the country is already the height ranges of 3500-4000m. As a result, the ​​perpetual snow area is wide enough. During the summer, it partially melts and fill the numerous rivers with clear water.

1566 GEORGIA (Mtskheta-Mtianeti) - Historical Monuments of Mtskheta (UNESCO WHS)

1566 Jvari Monastery

Located at the confluence of the Aragvi and Mtkvari Rivers, Mtskheta was the ancient capital of Iberia, the East Georgian Kingdom from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD, and was also the location where Christianity was proclaimed as the official religion of Georgia in 337. To date, it still remains the headquarters of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and it was declared as the "Holy City" by the GOC in 2014. The favourable natural conditions, its location at the intersection of trade routes, and its close relations with the Roman Empire, the Persian Empire, Syria, Palestine, and Byzantium, generated the development of the city and led to the integration of different cultural influences with local cultural traditions.

1487 ABKHAZIA - Pitsunda, the kingdom of the sea and pines

Located in South Caucasus, on the north shore of the Black Sea, on the western end of Georgia, Abkhazia has a varied topography, from the ranges from the lowlands around the sea to the high peaks of the Caucasus Mountains in the north, but however the region is mainly mountainous and settlement is largely confined to the coast and a number of deep, well-watered valleys. One of the mountains range is Gagra Range, which runs between the valleys of the Bzyb and Psou rivers to the south of the Caucasus Major. It approaches to the Black Sea close to the city of Gagra and plays an important role in moderating the climate of that resort by blocking cold, continental winds from the north and east.

0606 GEORGIA (Samtskhe-Javakheti) - Vardzia-Khertvisi (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

0606 Vardzia

Vardzia-Khertvisi, comprising a vast territory in the upper reaches of the Kura River (Mt'k'vari in Georgian) basin, and spread over 18 km from Khertvisi (Medieval residence) to Vardzia is significant in many respects: unique natural conditions contributing to the specific microclimate and landscape, historical context and diversity of cultural heritage.Vardzia is a cave monastery site excavated in the slopes of the Erusheti Mountain on the left bank of the Kura River.

0600 GEORGIA (Tbilisi) - Tbilisi Historic District (UNESCO WHS - Tentative List)

0600 Tbilisi - Davit Aghmashenebeli Avenue

Founded in the 5th century in the heart of the Caucasus by Vakhtang Gorgasali (the monarch of Georgia's precursor Kingdom of Iberia), Tbilisi has served as Georgia's capital for nearly 1500 years, and its proximity to east-west trade routes made the city a point of contention between various rival empires. Located on the both banks of the Kura River (Mt'k'vari in Georgian) and dominated by Mount Mtatsminda, Narikala fortress and the Kartlis Deda monument, Tbilisi Historic District is the center of the Old Tbilisi.

0421 GEORGIA (Imereti) - Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery (UNESCO WHS)

0421 Gelati Monastery

I was always fascinated by the people from the Caucasus (the region situated between the Black and the Caspian sea, crossed by the mountains with the same name), for the tenacity with which they kept their language, traditions, religion and even their own alphabets, so different from the people around, despite their position between the Tsarist, Ottoman and Persian Empires. The current Georgia has separated from the Soviet Union in 1991, but, like many other former Soviet republics, has faced and faced even today with the separatist tendencies of some regions, in this case Abkhazia and South Ossetia.