The President of Georgia visited the Kakheti region today. Mikheil Saakashvili toured the renovated monastery of Gremi, which has been restored to its 16th century appearance. The museums of Gremi, the famous bath of the middle ages and the wine-cellar, that the President visited, are also part of the same renovation project.
"Restoration of the monastery of Gremi is a historic event that will serve our grandchildren. This is a great Monastery complex, destroyed by Shah-Abbas in the past, after which life was frozen in this place. Of course, the church of Gremi remained, but it had been extremely damaged. We decided to restore this center of great historic significance two years ago, during a government cabinet meeting here, along with Nika Vacheishvili. Some people say that the government is fighting with the Georgian Church, although the number of churches we have restored is already greater than 500. We are exposing new positive facts from our country's religious history, but the above-mentioned people are trying to distort today's reality by saying that we are against Christianity. Their words are not important to me. What is far more important is the fact that the people who live here have a greater income because it has become a tourism center. Gremi has a real chance to emerge as an important place on the map. This is one of the greatest projects which we have accomplished. However, Gremi is already known in many countries around the world. As a result of Zurab Adeishvili's initiative, people who have visited the Nekresi monastery, have describe it as one of the most beautifully renovated places that they have ever seen. It would be very nice if every Georgian visited Nekresi. The fact that the construction of one of the largest complexes in Akhaltsikhe is going to begin in a few weeks is also of great significance. In the next two years, we will restore the original appearance and condition of everything that has been left after many centuries of destruction." - stated Mikheil Saakashvili.
After visiting the Gremi monastery complex, Mikheil Saakashvili went to Duruji Lake, where conjoint construction is being carried out. As the President of Georgia noted, Duruji Lake and its surroundings will soon be cleaned and sports facilities, hotels, restaurants and bicycle lanes will be constructed. Georgian and foreign visitors will have a chance to rest here and taste Georgian national dishes. According to the President, the number of local entertainment centers should increase.
"Several lakes around this area, including Kvareli and Lopota lakes have been well-accommodated. Everyone, who took part in the process of completing these projects, has done a remarkable job. But the problem is that these lakes are privately owned, and eventually the owners will seek recompense. I think that more public lakes should exist; because while building such places our main goal is to give access to people who may not be able to afford the cost of privately owned recreation areas. Everyone should be able to visit lakes to enjoy the environment, walk with their children, swim in the lake or even fish"- said the President of Georgia.
Mikheil Saakashvili also mentioned that, water filters that were recently imported from abroad are being installed at the lake, and will give it an unusual color and appearance.
"We will have a new, well-accommodated lake in November. Ilia Chavchavadze, a famous Georgian writer wrote about the mountains of Kvareli. Very soon, the beautiful lake of Kvareli will turn blue. By constructing this project - I'm sure that many new hotels and cafés will be opened and local people will have more motivation to grow agricultural products. I think that Kakheti will be an important tourist center and the development of this lake will increase tourism potential in the region. The image of this lake will be used on postcards of Georgia in the future." - said Mikheil Saakashvili.
The President also visited the 800 meter Kvareli wine-cellar, which holds 20 million aging bottles of wine. Mikheil Saakashvili tasted the wine and spoke about improvement of the standard of wine-making technology in the future. According to him, the construction of a new wine factory is being planned.