The culture of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

has evolved over the country's long history, providing it with a unique national identity and a strong literary tradition based on the

Georgian language Georgian (, , ) is the most widely-spoken Kartvelian language, and serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 87.6% of its p ...

and

alphabet An alphabet is a standardized set of basic written graphemes (called letters) that represent the phonemes of certain spoken languages. Not all writing systems represent language in this way; in a syllabary, each character represents a syll ...

. This strong sense of national identity has helped to preserve Georgian distinctiveness despite repeated periods of foreign occupation. Although Georgia is a largely traditional society, its culture continues to undergo changes in the 21st century. For example, Georgia is one of the first countries in the world to legalize cannabis for both recreational and medical use.

Culture of Ancient and Old Georgia

The Georgian alphabet is traditionally said to have been invented in the 3rd century BC and reformed by King

Parnavaz I of Iberia Pharnavaz I (; ka, ფარნავაზ I ) was a king of Kartli, an ancient Georgian kingdom known as Iberia in classical antiquity. ''The Georgian Chronicles'' credits him with being the first monarch founding the kingship of Kartli and ...

in 284 BC. Most modern scholarship puts its origin date at some time in the 5th century AD, when the earliest examples can be found. Georgia's

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

culture was greatly influenced by

Eastern Orthodox Christianity Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonical") ...

and the

Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

, which promoted and often sponsored the creation of many works of religious devotion. These included churches and monasteries, works of art such as

icons An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

, and

hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

of Georgian saints. In addition, many secular works of national

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

, and hagiography were also written.

Ecclesiastical art

Medieval Georgian icons are renowned as being among the finest creations of Orthodox religious art. Notable examples include: * The Icon of 886 from

Zarzma monastery , infobox_width = , image = Zarzma monastery (Photo A. Muhranoff, 2011)-2.jpg , alt = , caption = The monastic church of Transfiguration at Zarzma , map_type = Georgia#Samtsk ...

* The Icon of the 9th century from Tsilkani * The famous Wonderworking Iberian Icon of the Mother of God (10th century) * The Icon of the 10th century from Okona * The Icon of Our Lady of Khakhuli of the 12th century * The Icon of St. George of the 11th century from Labechina * The Icon of St. George of the 11th century from Nakipari * The

Icon An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...

of the 12th century from Anchiskhati * The Icon of the 14th century from Ubisa * The Icon of the 16th century from Alaverdi

Ecclesiastical monuments

A page from a rare 12th century Gelati Gospel

Georgian crown, Museum of Cultural History in Tbilisi, Georgia

Well-known monuments of Georgian Christian

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...

include: * The Georgian Church in

Bethlehem Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital o ...

(4th century) * The Church of Gavazi (4th century) in

Akhalsopeli Akhalsopeli ( ka, ახალსოფელი) is a village in the Ozurgeti Municipality of Guria in western Georgia.Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia'' ( ka, ქართული საბჭოთა ენ� ...

(

Kvareli Kvareli (, ) is a town in northeastern in Kakheti Province, Georgia. Located in the Alazani Valley, near the foothills of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, it was the birthplace of Georgian author Ilia Chavchavadze, whose one-storied house is pres ...

district of

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

region) * Akaurta Church (5th century) in

Bolnisi Bolnisi ( ka, ბოლნისი, az, Qəmərli), is a city in the country of Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. It currently has an estimated 13,800 inhabitants. History Bolnisi was settled ...

district (

Kvemo Kartli Kvemo Kartli ( ka, ქვემო ქართლი, az, Aşağı Kartli) or "Lower Kartli", is a historic province and current administrative region (mkhare) in southeastern Georgia. The city of Rustavi is the regional capital. Location Kvem ...

region) *

Ikalto Ikalto may refer to: * Ikalto Monastery * Academy of Ikalto {{Short pages monitor