Legends about the secret burial place of Queen Tamara. Holy Queen Tamara the Great

Which was at one time a permanent resting place for Queen Tamara. And the question may arise (and, we hope, it did arise) - who is this Queen Tamara? How would you know all about Queen Tamara? At least the author had such a question - since he is familiar with Queen Tamara primarily from the film "12 Chairs" and the dream of Father Fyodor. Accordingly, it needs to be sorted out.

Everything about Queen Tamara is, of course, loudly said. It would be more correct to say "a little about everything about Queen Tamara." Well, for those who want to go deeper, the Internet will help 🙂 And we will start from the beginning.

Queen Tamara came from the Bagration dynasty and was the daughter of George III and Queen Burdukhan, daughter of the Ossetian king Khudan. She was raised by a highly educated aunt Rusudan. Modern queen poets praised her intelligence and beauty. She was called not a queen, but a king, a vessel of wisdom, a smiling sun, a slender reed, a radiant face glorified her meekness, diligence, obedience, religiosity, enchanting beauty. There were legends about her perfections that have come down in oral transmission to our times. Byzantine princes, the Sultan of Aleppo, the Shah of Persia were looking for her hands. The whole reign of Tamara is surrounded by a poetic halo.

It all started with the fact that the king of Georgia, George III, to whom God did not give male heirs, decided to transfer the throne to his eldest daughter, Tamar. Moreover, to do this while still alive, in order to stop the intrigues of ill-wishers. It is not known what Tsar George felt as a father when he doomed his young daughter to such a difficult fate, but as a ruler he turned out to be wise and far-sighted: after his death in 1184, a serious struggle unfolded around the throne. But through the efforts of Tamar's followers, and especially her paternal aunt Rusudan, the young queen took her place. She was not even twenty that day.

The young queen instantly felt a change in those around her. Before she had time to adequately mourn her father, representatives of the church and the nobility came to her Isani palace and asked the humblest to accept power from their hands, as if she did not have it. Tamara was made clear: she would rule when they, the didebulas (that was the name of the assembly of the highest spiritual and secular nobility, which represented a kind of parliament of ancient Georgia), wished so.

At the cost of heavy concessions - she had to send people loyal to the throne and appease the greedy churchmen - she was crowned the kingdom a second time. The new Catholicos Mikael, who demanded for himself the position of the first vizier of the state for the support of the queen, constantly put spokes in the wheels, making it impossible to make independent decisions. In addition, the beloved, Prince David Soslani, the only surviving representative of the Bagratids, from the Ossetian branch, was removed from the court. And suddenly another blow - the feudal lords decided that it was time for the queen to go down the aisle.

Wars at that time were constantly fought, and a woman at the head of an army is not serious. We need a king, strong, well-born. They went through overseas sultans, Byzantine kings and Persian shahs, and found worthy only Prince Yuri of Russia, son of the famous Andrei Bogolyubsky. After the death of his father, he left his native land and since then found himself with a squad in Byzantium. In vain Tamara sadly appealed to the feudal lords: “How can you take such a rash step? We do not know about the behavior of this alien, nor about his deeds, nor about his military prowess, nor about his rights. Let me wait until I see his merits or demerits.” Didebuls sent an ambassador to Yuri, and soon he brought a handsome and strong man.

When they saw him, everyone liked him, and the queen had to share a bed with an imposed husband. But the nobility were greatly mistaken, believing that in gratitude for the throne, Yuri would become a pawn in their hands. The Russian prince turned out to be a tough nut to crack. True, he led troops and won victories, but he drank, swore, and was self-willed for two an extra year so that soon everyone's patience ran out. They poured him a full measure of gold and sent him royally back to Byzantium.

However, Yuri did not accept the divorce. He gathered a huge army from the Greeks, which was joined by some of the Georgian ill-wishers of the queen, and set off to conquer Georgia. This time, Tamara herself led the troops and, having shown remarkable talent as a commander, defeated her husband on the outskirts of Tbilisi.

In world history, the era of Tamar is the time when a bloody dawn breaks over the world: in the East, in the steppes of Mongolia, Temujin is plotting his future empire, having already become Genghis Khan. A third is raging in the West crusade, and the formidable Saladin, having defeated the knights of Europe at the Lake of Tiberias, enters Jerusalem. In the North, in the Dnieper steppes, the Novgorod-Seversky prince had just completed his ill-fated campaign, and one of his brilliant contemporaries wrote about that "The Tale of Igor's Campaign"; Russia is fragmented, and in half a century it will become an easy prey for Batu's rati ...

Whereas in Georgia there is a dawn. Like any woman, Tamara managed to recover from mental wounds and for the second time she is trying to find happiness in marriage. Who became her new chosen one? It was a man she knew early childhood and his name was David. He was the son of an Ossetian king and, like Tamara, was brought up by his aunt Rusudan.

Some historians claim that Queen Tamara fell in love with him as a girl, but one thing is clear to us for sure - their marriage turned out to be extremely happy and harmonious. Since then, the name of Tamara has been closely associated with the name of David. Thanks to him, Tamara won all the loudest victories and fought brilliant battles. She herself did not participate in the battles, this is not a woman’s business, but the faithful Field Marshal Zachary and her beloved husband David led the troops, and Queen Tamara was the inspirer of victories. Such a tandem was invincible.

War trophies and a huge tribute from the occupied territories made Georgia richest country medieval world, but the wise ruler turned the received treasures into new fortresses, monasteries, roads, bridges, ships, schools. Tamara understood that her subjects needed to be given a good education if she wants her undertakings to be continued by descendants and for Georgia to reach a high world level. She made sure that the quality of education in Georgian schools was unusually high and even in our time the volume school curriculum striking: theology, philosophy, history, Greek, Hebrew, the interpretation of poetic texts, the study of polite conversation, arithmetic, astrology, writing poetry.

This unique woman was truly ahead of her time. She can also be called the "godmother" of Georgian culture. The best musicians, poets, philosophers were gathered at the queen's court. Tamara took inexpressible pleasure from long philosophical disputes, and no ball could compare for her with the rivalry of the best poets.

Weakening Byzantine Empire opened the way for Georgia to the southeastern shores of the Black Sea. This territory was mainly inhabited by tribes of Georgian origin. The Georgian army occupied the coastal cities: Trebizond, Limnia, Samsun, Sinop, Kerasunt, Kotiora, Heraclea. The Trabizonian Empire was formed, headed by the representative of the house of Komnenos brought up in Georgia (deposed from the imperial throne in Byzantium) Alexy Komnenos. The Empire of Trabizon was in the sphere of influence of Georgia.

David Soslan died in 1206. In the same year, Queen Tamar placed her son George-Lasha on the throne as co-ruler.
In 1210, a campaign was made in Iran. The campaign was especially successful: the Georgians took many cities and penetrated deep into Iran. The army loaded with great booty could not move further forward and turned back. This campaign once again demonstrated the military power of Georgia.

Tamar spent the last years of her life in the cave monastery of Vardzia. The queen had a cell that communicated through a window with the temple, from which she could offer prayers to God during divine services. In 1213, Queen Tamar died (there are versions that she died in 1207 or 1210). According to the chronicler of Tamara's era, she was buried in Gelati. There is also an opinion that later her ashes were transferred to the Jerusalem Cross Monastery. Georgian church canonized Queen Tamar as a saint and fixed May 1 (14) as the day of her remembrance.

In general, the time of the reign of Queen Tamara for Georgia is still the “golden age”. The state is strong and powerful. For almost 20 years, the queen has been waging successful wars with large and small opponents: with the Atabek of Iranian Azerbaijan Abubekr, with Byzantium, with the Turks, with the rulers of Armenia, with the population of the recalcitrant mountainous provinces of her own country and adjacent territories. As a result of this active foreign policy in varying degrees dependence on Georgia in the 12th century were North Caucasus, Eastern Transcaucasia, Southern Azerbaijan, Armenia, the southern coast of the Black Sea ...

So, everything about Queen Tamara

The last secret of Queen Tamara

"... Skill, language and heart I need to sing about her. Give me strength, inspiration! The mind itself will serve her..."

Shota Rustaveli "The Knight in the Panther's Skin"

She came from the Bagration dynasty and was the daughter of George III and Queen Burdukhan, daughter of the Ossetian king Khudan. She was raised by a highly educated aunt Rusudan. Modern queen poets praised her intelligence and beauty. She was called not a queen, but a king, a vessel of wisdom, a smiling sun, a slender reed, a radiant face glorified her meekness, diligence, obedience, religiosity, enchanting beauty. There were legends about her perfections that have come down in oral transmission to our times. Byzantine princes, the Sultan of Aleppo, the Shah of Persia were looking for her hands. The whole reign of Tamara is surrounded by a poetic halo.

There are names known to every inhabitant of the former great country - the USSR. These include the name of the legendary Queen Tamara (1166-1209). Even at school, we were told about the cruel ruler of Georgia, who lived in the Darial Gorge. We learned about it from the inspired poem by M.Yu. Lermontov. Every night the Caucasian beauty feasted with a new lover - a young man who idolizes her - and every morning the bloody corpse of her lover was taken by the waves of the mighty Terek.

Sh.Rustaveli wrote about Tamara:

"... The lion, serving Tamar the queen, holds her sword and shield. Well, I, the singer, what deed should she serve? The scythes of the regal - agate, the heat of the cheeks is brighter than lalov. The one who flies the sun revels in nectar. Once upon a time I dedicated marvelously composed hymns to her. A reed was a pen, an agate lake was an ink. Whoever listened to my creations was struck down by a blade of damask steel ... "

But in historical works, and in novels, another Tamara appears. This is a wise ruler, whose memory has been preserved in the Caucasus in the form of numerous fortresses that preserve peace in mountain gorges. There is one more Tamara, not a queen, but a faithful friend who carried through her whole life a great love for her childhood friend, the militant Alan Soslan, who received after baptism Christian name David. Romantic legends about Queen Tamara have survived to our time. One of them, the latest, haunts historians. Tamara ruled Georgia and her own court in Mtskheta with a firm, sometimes cruel hand, often causing discontent among individual feudal lords, who were accustomed to considering their estates as independent principalities. It was unusual for the freedom-loving Georgian nobility to obey a "weak" woman.
After the death of the queen, relatives, not without reason, feared abuse of her remains. To prevent this from happening, four absolutely identical oak coffins were made. The deceased queen was placed in one of them, and the bodies of women similar to her were placed in three others. At night, four processions secretly left the royal palace and dispersed in different directions. The locations of all four burials are still unknown. Their secret was kept very in a simple way. The participants in each procession, after returning to Mtskheta, were surrounded by soldiers and ruthlessly cut to pieces. The foresight of the queen's close associates, who covered the body of their mistress, went further. They were not sure that one of the dead participants in the funeral processions in the last minutes of his life did not tell where the coffin was hidden. A special detachment of the most devoted warriors to the queen destroyed those soldiers who liquidated the participants in the funeral processions.

The coffin with the body of Queen Tamara was searched for eight centuries. All places that could become the last refuge of the legendary ruler were carefully examined: the royal cemetery of Gelati in Mtskheta, the monastery on the slopes of Mount Kazbek, the caves in the Kasar Gorge and many others. All searches ended in failure. Gradually, archaeologists and just amateur searchers abandoned their attempts to find the resting place of the queen, or at least one of the three women who were killed after her death.

But scientists early abandoned the opportunity to reveal one of the historical secrets. There is a place in Georgia where one of the coffins can be kept. The alleged burial place of Queen Tamara remained in Georgia, with which Russia is now in a strained relationship. But sooner or later, countries that have lived together for hundreds of years must reconcile, and then such an expedition will become a reality. In the winter of 1967, athletes from the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute, under the guidance of their coach, master of sports in mountaineering, Eduard Grekov, climbed the peaks in the Georgian corner. The first overnight stay was in a kosh located in the upper reaches of the Kistinka River. As often happens, the excitement of the gloomy beauty of the mountains surrounding the gorge and the spectacle fast river, carrying its waters to the Terek, did not let them fall asleep, and they listened to the coach's stories about his adventures in the mountains for half the night. Among others, we heard a story that was directly related to Queen Tamara.

Approximately in 1963-1964, a tragedy occurred on the Georgian Military Highway, not far from the mountainous village of Kazbegi. At a sharp turn, the driver could not hold the car, and she, along with four passengers, collapsed into the Terek gorge. The mountain rescue team that arrived at the scene had to lift the bodies of the dead travelers onto the road. When descending down the climbing rope, one of the rescuers saw under the eaves of the rock a dark hole in the entrance to the cave, blocked by a rusted forged grate. Attempts to "swing" to the exit were not successful. The rescuers did not have a cat with which to cling to the bars, so the exploration of the cave was postponed until better times. But they never came. On the next year all participants in the rescue work died at the time of climbing one of the peaks.

Eduard Grekov learned about the mysterious cave from the head of the rescue team. Both had heard about the mysterious burial of Queen Tamara and believed that the coffin with her remains was hidden behind that wrought-iron lattice. But the head of the detachment died, and Grekov soon moved to Moscow and he no longer had time for expeditions with a dubious hope of success.

So the cave found in the Terek gorge is still waiting for enthusiasts who, perhaps, will be able to unravel the last secret of the legendary Queen Tamara.

Tamara is not yet dead. old woman, as evidenced historical sources, from some serious and long illness, leaving behind two children - son George, named after his grandfather and daughter Rusudan. This happened around 1207. She spent the last years of her life in the cave monastery of Vardzia. Blessed queen had a cell that communicated through a window with the temple, from which she could offer prayers to God during Divine services.

Tamar died on January 18, 1212 from serious illness. She was buried in the family crypt in Gelati. A few centuries later, the crypt was opened, but the remains of the queen were not found there. According to legend, when the great ruler lived last days, she asked to hide the place of her burial from people. Tamar did not want her tomb to be found and desecrated by Muslims who long years struggle and could not defeat the Georgian queen. Apparently, the ashes of Tamar were secretly taken out of the monastery, and no one knows where he rests now.

One way or another, chronicles were found in the Vatican, according to which the Georgian ruler was allegedly buried in Palestine, in the ancient Georgian monastery of the Holy Cross. As if she so passionately desired to visit this monastery, but because of the numerous wars she did not have time to do this, and therefore bequeathed to take her there after her death. Perhaps in eternity, Tamar wanted to stay with her faithful poet.

Rustaveli's death is also shrouded in legends. It is only known for certain that once the headless body of a Georgian poet was found in a small cell of the monastery. The killer was never found.

Many years later, a fresco depicting an old man was discovered in Jerusalem. It is believed that this is the face of the great Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli. Evidence that the Georgian queen Tamar was buried next to him was not found.

Apparently, the poet decided that the one whose life has always belonged to the world, the vanity of state affairs, in another dimension should unite with his Muse.

I will sing about love - you will not listen.

The stars will play with their rays.

And the desert, like a tender mother,

He will open his arms to me!

I'm leaving - sorry!

No offensive awards

I will complete my creation:

But it will be confirmed

Our grandchildren's grandchildren -

May your name be glorified!

This is how the Russian poet Y. Polonsky wrote about the love of Tamara and Shota Rustaveli.

After the death of Tamar, Georgia began to quickly lose its power. The years of prosperity changed the difficult years of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, then Turkey seized power over the country.

Now Tamar is canonized as a saint. There are numerous legends about her. In particular, they say that at night she is sick and treats them from serious illnesses. Kings rule over the people, and the best of them serve their subjects as their masters. In prayers, long as those of a schematress, the queen's sleepless nights passed, and her tears - now transparent, like a diamond, now bloody, like a ruby ​​- flowed down like streams of peace to the earth. Her prayer was the flame that the demons feared: so wild animals are frightened by a lit torch, so wolves cannot approach the fire and only howl piercingly from afar.

Unfortunately, historical sources are very contradictory and this mystery has not yet been resolved. But something else is important - this is the people's memory of the great queen and the gratitude of her descendants.

Queen Tamara and her husband George Andreevich.

There is no corner in Georgia where the name of Queen Tamar would not be pronounced with blessing. The queen knew that the enemies of Christ would want to take revenge on her after her death, and therefore she bequeathed to bury her secretly so that the grave would forever remain hidden from the world. Georgia fulfilled her will. Her grave has been preserved both from the Mohammedans and from the Mongols, and from those vandals who tear and desecrate the tombs of their kings. The whole country mourned the queen, the whole people felt orphaned. It seemed that the glory and greatness of Georgia were embodied in the face of the queen, and now terrible trials were coming. At night, ten detachments left the gates of the castle, where Queen Tamar died. Each carried a coffin, ten coffins were secretly buried in different places. No one knew which of them contained the queen's body.

And yet, two more or less connected legends about Tamar's grave have been preserved. One is Georgian, the other is European.

According to the first, the queen bequeathed to bury her secretly, hiding the last shelter from friends and enemies, so that in the event of an invasion of the infidels, which she foresaw, to avoid outrage. Nine death-drones set off in nine directions, and nine boxwood coffins were buried in nine provinces of a rather vast kingdom. Sometimes temperamental Georgians go even further and claim that after that, nine young brothers, who performed the “rite” and were devoted to the queen even on the other side of life, pierced each other with swords so as not to inadvertently betray the secret. But this is probably too much...

And here is a European tradition: at the beginning of the 13th century, a certain knight Des Bois wrote from the East to the Archbishop of Besancon in France: “Now listen to the news, amazing and important. I learned from rumors, and then established the truth of this matter through trustworthy ambassadors, that Christians from Iberia, called Georgians (Georgians. - Approx. ed.), Innumerable cavalry and infantry, inspired by God's assistance, very heavily armed, opposed the infidel pagans and with a quick onslaught they have already taken three hundred fortresses and nine big cities, of which the strong were seized, and the weak turned to ashes. Of these cities, one located on the Euphrates is considered the most famous and richest of all pagan cities (meaning Erzerum. - Approx. ed.). The owner of that city was the son of the Babylonian sultan... The above-mentioned go to free the land of sacred Jerusalem and conquer the whole pagan world. Their noble king is sixteen years old, he is similar to Alexander in courage and virtue, but not in faith (the author means that Alexander the Great was a pagan, and the Georgian king, in this case Lasha, George, is a Christian. - Approx. ed.). This young man is carrying with him the bones of his mother, the mighty Queen Tamara, who during her lifetime made a vow to visit Jerusalem and asked her son: if she dies without having been there, take her bones to the Holy Sepulcher. And he, remembering the request of his mother ... decided to transport her remains, whether the pagans want it or not.”

The highlanders have a legend that when troubles and sorrows multiply, Queen Tamar will come to Georgia again, sit on her golden throne again and console the people. But Queen Tamar, reigning not on earth, but in heaven with her spirit, never left Georgia with love and will not leave it.

Image of Queen Tamara by contemporary Russian artist Nadezhda Antipina.

Today at Orthodox calendar Memorial Day of Blessed Tamara, Queen of Georgia.

Tamara - the famous Georgian queen (1184 - 1213), whose name is associated with one of the best periods in the history of Georgia. She came from the Bagratid dynasty and was the only daughter of George III and the beautiful Burdukhan, compared by the chronicler with Penelope.

She was brought up by her highly educated aunt Rusudan. Modern queen poets praised her mind and beauty. She was called not a queen, but a king, a vessel of wisdom, a smiling sun, a slender reed, a radiant face, glorified her meekness, diligence, obedience, religiosity, enchanting beauty.

There were legends about her perfections that have come down in oral transmission to our times; Everyone wanted to see her, Byzantine princes, the Sultan of Aleppo, the Shah of Persia were looking for her hands.

The whole reign of Tamara is surrounded by a mysterious halo; reliable historical information was complicated by legendary tales from the day she ascended the throne. Her father crowned her king (1179) during his lifetime, but only after his death (1184) did she begin to rule the state. Tamara proclaimed mercy and truth as the motto of her reign: “I am the father of the orphans and the judge of widows,” said Tamara. In her reign, there was not a single case of the death penalty and corporal punishment.

Avoiding complications within the kingdom, the queen waged a series of wars with neighboring states.

Her first husband, the Russian prince George (Yuri, according to Karamzin, the son of Andrei Bogolyubsky) made military expeditions to the north of Armenia, to Shirvan (present-day Azerbaijan) and Erzrum. When Tamara's marriage with George was annulled - according to the Georgian chronicler due to the outrages committed by the prince, then former spouse Tamara became her enemy and with a large army moved from Constantinople to Georgia to return the lost throne. Despite the fact that some regional rulers joined him, the Russian prince was defeated and disappeared after that without a trace.

Tamara, having entered into a new marriage with the Ossetian ruler David Soslani, with whom she grew up in childhood, ten years after her accession to the throne, opens an offensive policy.

Georgian kingdom at the end of Tamara's reign.

Delivering Georgia predominant political significance throughout Asia Minor, having subdued internal and external enemies, expanding the boundaries of the kingdom, Tamara took care of spiritual development of their country. At her court, a galaxy of glorious writers is gathering, who brought Georgian literary language to perfection. Her century was marked by the poetic activity of Shavteli and Chakhrukh, who dedicated enthusiastic odes to the “god-like queen”. She created secular romantic literature in prose, whose representatives are Khoneli, the author of Amiran Darejani, and Sargis Tmogveli, the translator of the Persian story about Vis and Ramin. Finally, in her reign, the poet Shota Rustaveli became famous, whose magnificent poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" is all imbued with love for Queen Tamara. We find her features at once in two beautiful heroines: princesses Tinatin and Nestan-Darejan, and Tariel and Avtandil express the poet's love for her at the same time.

The legendary story that ascribes to Tamara the construction of all the wonderful temples and fortresses of Georgia is not far from the truth: many monuments of art were created by her, and among them is the luxurious Vardzia Palace, which can accommodate up to 360 chambers.

Christianity and citizenship among the Caucasian highlanders spread thanks to the energy and care of Tamara. Her name is conveyed with the same reverence in the poetic tales of various peoples of the Caucasus. The church canonized her as a saint. Georgian mountaineers turned Tamara into a goddess - a healer of all ailments. In Svaneti, Tamara, from a militant wife, became an object of religious veneration and, at the same time, an ideal of magical beauty.

The people believe that Tamara is not dead, she sleeps in a golden cradle: when the voice of human sorrow reaches her, she will wake up and reign again. This belief is supported by the lack of precise indications of the location of her grave.

From the book Elena Grushko, Yuri Medvedev. Dictionary of names. Nizhny Novgorod: Russian merchant, Brothers Slavs, 1996. Pages 603 - 606.

Let me touch on one more point.

Many lovers of poetry from the school bench remember the lines of Lermontov:

In the deep gorge of Darial,
Where the Terek digs in the mist,
The old tower stood
Blackening on the black rock.

In that tower high and cramped
Queen Tamara lived:
Beautiful like an angel in heaven
Like a demon, insidious and evil.

So, "cunning as a demon" Tamara, who killed her lovers, and ordered the corpses to be thrown into the Terek, has nothing to do with the historical Queen Tamara!

In unknown times, a myth took root in Russia that Tamara had lovers, and she killed them and threw the bodies into the Terek. This myth created a halo of glory around the Darial Gorge and the "Castle of Tamara". However, this is a myth, and a very late one. Where he came from is unclear. The first Georgian historical and mythological subjects became known in Russia from the memoirs of Jacques Chardin (-1713), but Chardin does not know any lovers of Tamara. Pushkin does not mention this topic. Lermontov's poem "Tamara and the Demon" clearly mentions another Tamara, and this other Tamara, according to Lermontov, did not live above the Terek, but in the Aragva Gorge. And only in the verse "Tamara" (1841) Lermontov directly describes the story of Tamara and lovers. Where he got this story from is not clear. There is an opinion that this is a modification of the story about Tamara of Imereti, who was the wife of the Kartli king Luarsab I and was known bad temper. Mayakovsky replicated this myth, and directly referring to Lermontov. He mentions this plot twice in the poem "Vladikavkaz-Tiflis" and in the poem "Tamara and the Demon" (1924).

A selection of images of Queen Tamara:

1. On a fresco in Vardzia Monastery.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8. Monument to Queen Tamara.

9.

10. Painting by Yesadze. 1913

11.

7. Copy of a fresco from the Hermitage (my photo).

8.

9.

10.

11. Painting by artist Alexei Vepkhadze.

Between East and West

The ascent to the throne of a woman in the 12th century is an extraordinary phenomenon both for Georgia and for the whole world. The heirs and the elite, as a rule, prevented this outcome in every possible way. However, Tamara's father George III was not initially going to give the reins of government to his daughter. He was the guardian of David, the son of his elder brother, and cherished the idea that the young man would become the next ruler. However, fate decreed otherwise - civil strife broke out, and David disappeared. Either he was killed, or he disappeared under a false name. Historians are still arguing about his fate.

In 1178, George III made Tamara his co-ruler. He decided not to tempt fate, guessing what obstacles the nobility would build in her path after his death. The king did not place special hopes on his daughter, but in vain. First, she was well educated. Secondly, she had the talent of a diplomat. Given that Georgia was surrounded by the Muslim world, this was a necessity. Thirdly, Tamara combined seemingly incompatible qualities: mercy, purely feminine gentleness and, at the same time, the unbending will of a military leader, the desire to go to the bitter end.

Tamara had to fight with her ex-husband

A fragile, shy girl, when necessary, stood her ground to the last. Singing these qualities in poems, the Georgian people often went too far, which makes it difficult to objectively assess the personality of Tamara. Thus, praising the queen, the Georgian chroniclers claimed that she forbade the use of corporal punishment and the death penalty. “In the days of Tamar’s reign, there was not a single person who, with her knowledge, was subjected to violence, and no one who would be punished, except for the cases of applying the old law that is laid down for robbers - hanging on a tree,” wrote Basili Ezosmodzgvari (XIII century ) in the work "History of Queen Tamar". Meanwhile, this information does not correspond to historical reality. Punishments were used, although rarely.

Tamara gained fame as a great ruler thanks to her conquests. After the death of her father, she was re-crowned. Wasting no time, the queen got down to business: she reformed the army according to the feudal system, introduced a system of military districts and military service; soldiers, before being sent to the battlefield, were taught their craft. Special attention was now paid to intelligence.

George III did not want to transfer the throne to his daughter, but the heir disappeared

Tamara understood that the attack of the Turks on Georgia was inevitable: the location of the kingdom was too favorable. She chose offensive tactics. It was a bold step, because the number of Turkish troops significantly exceeded the number of Georgians. However, severe discipline and experienced military leaders did their job, and the Georgian army defeated the Turks in southern Armenia. The list of conquests over the 27 years of the reign of the legendary queen is impressive: almost the entire Caucasus, former Byzantine provinces, several Iranian cities. Tamara's troops successfully repulsed the attacks of the united Muslim army. The Georgian kingdom has never been so powerful. Alas, there will be no trace of this power when the most dangerous enemy comes - the Mongols.

Territory of Georgia at the beginning of the 13th century

How Tamara fought with her ex-husband

The queen's first marriage was unsuccessful. Her wife was chosen by the religious elite. Of course, he had to profess Orthodoxy. The choice fell on George (Yuri), the son of Andrei Bogolyubsky. Unlike his father, George did not possess the talent of a commander and politician. He preferred taverns, booze and women (according to some legends, men) to battles. Tamara quickly became disillusioned with her husband and demanded a divorce two and a half years later. It must be understood that divorce was then unthinkable. However, the church agreed. Perhaps the reason for this was the reforms initiated by Tamara at the beginning of her reign. She put at the head of the church people devoted to her who were not seen in extorting money and abusing their power. In addition, churches were exempted from duties, generous funds were allocated from the treasury for their existence. The queen also enlisted the support of the elite - she significantly expanded the powers of the councils of the nobility. The lower strata of the population were also satisfied with their fate, they were freed from heavy requisitions.

The Georgian Church canonized Tamara as a saint

So, no one interfered with Tamara's divorce. And here the most interesting begins: the queen sent George into exile, while providing a large amount of money. A noble act. The rejected husband went to Constantinople, and then, together with the army, returned to Georgia for revenge. Tamara had to fight with her ex-husband. True, the army devoted to her quickly expelled the unlucky spouse from the kingdom.

The queen spent military reform making the army more efficient

Legends attribute numerous lovers to the beautiful Tamara. But this is nothing more than fiction, a sort of attribute of a romantic image. One thing is certain: the young widow was looking for a husband on her own. Her chosen one was the Ossetian prince David-Soslan. There were no disagreements with the second spouse; in addition, he was a talented military leader.

"Cultural Revolution" in feudal Georgia

Tamara, among other achievements, patronized the arts, literature and science. It should be noted that the cultural heritage of Georgia in the XII century was unique. The kingdom was located at the crossroads of trade routes, and the culture combined Christian and Persian traditions in an amazing way. However, after numerous enemy raids, the vast property was seriously damaged.

During the reign of Tamara, monasteries and churches were built in all corners of the country, their walls were painted the best masters. The ruler surrounded herself with poets and writers who, in the process of their creativity, formed norms Georgian language.

Many legends speak of romantic relationship Tamara and the outstanding poet Shota Rustaveli

Shota Rustaveli

And indeed, between the lines of his poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" reckless love is read. Tamara clearly favored the poet and appointed him state treasurer. But researchers say that there was no romantic connection between the queen and the poet. In general, information about Rustaveli's biography is scarce and contradictory. There are several versions recent years his life, starting from monastic vows and ending with marriage to a beautiful Georgian woman.

Poets attributed numerous lovers to Tamara

The great ruler died between 1209 and 1213. The place of her burial is unknown. Tamara is still the favorite heroine of Georgian folklore, and not only Georgian. Each nationality of the Caucasus has a couple of stories about Tamara, a fair and courageous queen.

Few of whom composed so many legends and tales in Georgian history as about Queen Tamara. She lives in people's memory, the best poets sang her wisdom, piety and beauty in odes. Depicting a slender figure, dark eyes, a majestic look and the pleasantness of speeches. Shota Rustaveli dedicated his immortal poem "The Knight in the Panther's Skin" to her.

Biography of Queen Tamara

The time of her reign is considered to be the century of Georgia's prosperity. Tamara was the daughter of King George III Bagration and Burdukhan, the daughter of the Ossetian king Khudan.

It is known from the chronicles that when George III, the grandson of David IV the Builder, began to reign, the first child, a girl, was born a few years later. It was Tamara.

In 1184, when her father died, Tamara was 18 years old. An important role in the upbringing and education of the future queen was played by her aunt, the sister of her father, Queen Rusudan. She was the daughter-in-law of the Supreme Sultan of the Seljuk clan Sanjar, but when she became a widow, she returned to Georgia, where she played a significant role in the politics of the state.

There was no unanimity among the clergy, dignitaries and nobles on the issue of Tamara's accession. A woman at the head of state? Tsar George foresaw this, and even during his lifetime in 1179, Tamara was crowned in the Gelati monastery as co-ruler of her father. She was only 12 years old. It was from that time that she was aware of state affairs, worries and problems.

The situation with the succession to the throne was not easy. It developed as a result of the controversial decisions of David IV the Builder. George III was younger son Demeter I. At the time of his accession to the throne, the son of George's older brother - David V - Prince Demeter was still a minor.

In 1177, Demeter raised an uprising in order to seize the throne. It was joined by military detachments from some regions of Georgia. The army of the rebels numbered about 30 thousand soldiers, but there was no unanimity in their ranks, and George III dealt with the rebels. Prince Demeter, like many of his closest supporters, was executed.

After the suppression of the uprising, George surrounded himself with loyal people, but nevertheless, at the time of Tamara's accession, the situation inside the country, as well as the foreign policy situation, was turbulent. The integrity and independence of the united kingdom were threatened by the Turkish sultans and emirs, waging aggressive wars in the Middle East and adjacent territories.

There was also a potential threat from the kings of the West. That is why the unification of the lands and the search for reliable allies were so important. The Tbilisi royal court had a well-armed army, and this created the conditions for building relations of feudal dependence with less powerful and not so large principalities and kingdoms.

Equally important was the support of the Church. Queen Tamara considered the elimination of heresies and the cessation of church troubles a matter of state. She returned the Catholicos of Kartli, who, having resigned his rank, fled to Jerusalem and convened a Council to arrange the affairs of the Church, to eradicate abuses and remove negligent pastors from their posts.

Bishops, theologians, hermits and monks arrived at the Cathedral. And so, when the Council was coming to an end and some order had been established, and a certain agreement had been reached in spiritual matters, a delegation of spalsalars (military leaders) and eristavis came and demanded to find a spouse for the queen.

About the marriages of Queen Tamara

It was not possible to choose a party from representatives of noble families, as this would have caused strife at the court and throughout the kingdom. Through the merchants they found out that there is a good party of crowned bearers in the Russian lands. Soon the groom arrived to Tamara.

Prince Yuri, the son of the Suzdal prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, was orphaned early, his own uncle took the throne from him and expelled him from the country, Yuri had to flee to the Kipchaks. Since he was well-born, valiant and seemingly pleasant, it was decided to make him the husband of Queen Tamara.

Writers mention that Tamara asked to wait, saying that they should see what kind of person he was and what his character was, but the advisers, worried about the absence of children from the queen and the future of the royal house, hurried with the wedding. And soon after the magnificent wedding celebrations ended, Yuri began to show his "Scythian" mores. The character of the spouse became more and more violent, and his actions were simply inhuman. In unrestrained drunkenness, he condescended to the basest sins.

Tamara endured and forgave her husband for two years, but neither her persuasion nor the exhortations of the monks yielded results, and she was forced to demand a dissolution of the marriage. Yuri was sent to Constantinople, however, he soon gathered an army and moved to Georgia to regain his throne. He occupied Kutaisi and was crowned by his adherents, but his army was completely defeated. About his fate, after the battle, reliable information has not been preserved.

Tamara's marriage to Prince Yuri remained childless, and, yielding to the insistence of those close to her, in 1188 she married David Soslan, a prince from the Ossetian Bagration dynasty. In the middle of the 11th century, the son of Demeter, David, found refuge in Ossetia and became the ancestor of the Ossetian Bagrations.

This time, no surprises in the character of her husband lay in wait for the queen: David was brought up in the palace of Tamara's aunt, Queen Rusudan, and Tamara knew him from childhood. He became a valiant commander, went to fight more than once and won resounding victories over the enemy.

Contemporaries believed that this marriage was happy, seeing numerous military victories and the dispersal of internal and external enemies as proof of this. The only thing that saddened the queen was the absence of children. But this sadness, three years later, was replaced by joy: in 1191, Tamara gave birth to a son, who was named George in honor of his grandfather. And, a year later, a daughter was born - she was given the name Rusudan.

Why did they love Queen Tamara?

Attaching new lands, strengthening the kingdom and resisting external threats, Tamara continued the work of her father George III and great-grandfather David IV the Builder. When, in 1195, hordes moved against Georgia under the leadership of the Atabek of Azerbaijan Abu Bakr (1191-1210) from the Ildegizids dynasty, the queen ordered to gather her troops, pray tirelessly in monasteries, and generously distribute alms to the poor.

The chronicler gives us the words of the queen, with which she addressed the brave knights before the decisive battle. Having blessed the soldiers, Tamara visited the temple of the Mother of God in Mtskheta and fell on her face before the icon, tearfully praying for the blessing of victory.

In the battle of Shamkhor on June 1, 1195, the army defeated the enemy and with military trophies, many prisoners and camels loaded with rich booty moved to the capital. The queen solemnly rode out to meet them.

As a gift, booty was brought to her: precious stones, pearls, weapons and armor, helmets, chain mail, skillfully made and richly decorated, gold-woven clothes and vessels with incense. Among the trophies were captured enemy banners. The main trophy - the banner of the caliph - Tamara, following the family tradition, brought as a gift to the Khakhul icon Mother of God in the Gelati monastery.

When state concerns allowed, the queen liked to go hunting with her courtiers and household members. They hunted on the banks of the Iori and on the banks of the Kura. For recreation, they pitched tents and spent time delighting their ears with music, songs and poems. Another glorious victory was won by the Georgian army led by David Soslan in the battle of Basiani on July 27, 1202 over the troops of Sultan Ruknaddin.

The royal treasury again replenished with gold items, precious stones, pearls, brocade and fine fabrics. The chronicler can find a mention that now at the royal court silver utensils were not in honor, but dishes, goblets and other items made of crystal, decorated with precious stones, and from gold.

Tamara donated many of these valuable items to decorate churches and monasteries. Following the traditions of her ancestors, the queen freed churches from taxes and dues. She founded churches and monasteries not only in Georgia, but also in Jerusalem and Palestine, helped the Church in Constantinople a lot, took care of orphans, widows, the sick and the infirm.

by the most famous object associated with the name of Queen Tamara is the city-monastery Vardzia.

She died around 2013 from an illness in the Agara fortress (now the Kojori fortress) in the mountains, not far from Tbilisi, where the royal summer residence was. The place of her burial is unknown.

The popularity of Queen Tamara was extremely great both during her lifetime and later. She was credited with everything good, even that to which she had no direct relationship.

The bitterness of defeat will have to be known to her children when internal strife intensifies, and the merciless Mongols attack the country.

The image of the queen is depicted in the frescoes of the Gelati Monastery, Vardzia and Betania.

Queen Tamara was canonized by the Georgian and Russian Orthodox churches for his deeds for the Christianization of the North Caucasian highlanders, charitable deeds and a truly Christian life.

in Svaneti folk tradition she is revered as a healer and pray to her for deliverance from ailments. The day of her memory is celebrated twice: on May 14 and on the third Sunday after Easter, dedicated to the myrrh-bearing women. In 1892, an asteroid discovered by an Austrian scientist was named after the queen.

About St. Nino - another legendary person.