- Vani
Vani is a town in
Imereti region of western Georgia, at the Sulori river (a tributary of theRioni river ), 41 km southwest from the regional capitalKutaisi . The town with the population of 4,600 (2002 est.) is an administrative center of the Vaniraion i (district) comprising also 43 neighbouring villages (total area – 557 km²; population – 34,000,2002 est.).Systematic archaeological studies (N.Khoshtaria, O.Lordkipanidze) carried out in the Vani environs since
1947 revealed the remnants of a rich city of the ancient power ofColchis . The name of this ancient settlement is still unknown but four distinct stages of uninterrupted occupation have been identified. The first phase is dated to the 8th-7th centuries B.C. In this period Vani is presumed to have been a major cultic centre. The second phase - end of the 7th and beginning of the 6th to the first half of the 4th century B.C. - is represented by cultural layers, remains of wooden structures, sacrificial altars cut in the rocky ground, and rich burials. It is assumed that on this stage Vani was the centre of a political-administrative unit of the kingdom ofColchis . The third phase covers the second half of the 4th - first half of the 3rd century B.C. It is represented largely by rich burials, remains of stone structures. To the fourth phase (the 3rd-mid-1st cent. B.C.) belong defensive walls, the so-called small gate, sanctuaries and cultic buildings (temples, altars sacrificial platforms), and the remains of a foundry for casting bronze statues. It is assumed that in the 3rd-1st centuries B.C. Vani was a templar city. According to the archaeological data, the city was destroyed in the mid-1st century B.C. Subsequently, Vani declined to a village and was officially granted a status of a town only in1981 .In town Vani there is an interesting museum (founded in
1985 ), where some unique pieces of the ancientColchis are exhibited.ister Cities
*
Fallon, Nevada ,USA Bibliography
Lordkipanidze O., "Vani, An Ancient City of Colchis." "Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies". 32(2): 151-195, 16 plates. Durham, USA, 1991.
External links
* [http://www.museum.ge/english/vanimuseum.htm Otar Lordkipanidze Vani Archeological Museum]
* [http://www.archaeological.org/webinfo.php?page=10037&entrynumber=140 Vani, Georgia] at the
Archaeological Institute of America website* [http://www.great-adventures.com/destinations/rep_georgia/colchis.html Colchis, the land of the Golden Fleece]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
