Georgia celebrates 898 years from Didgori Battle with annual public festival
By Levan Abramishvili
Tuesday, August 13
August 12 marked 898 years from the Didgori Battle, often referred to as ‘the greatest victory in the history of the country.’
On this day, in 1121, King David the Great led the army of the Georgian Kingdom of around 50 000 against the enormous army of the Seljuk Empire. Georgians won the battle, and as a result, the Seljuks were routed and fled from the battlefield. Not only did the Didgori battle stop the invasion in Georgia, but it helped the Crusader states, which had been under threat from the Seljuk armies.
Annual public festival Didgoroba is celebrated at Didgori valley, Tetritskaro Municipality on August 12.
This year, the territory of Didgori Memorial was presented to the public as an open-air museum. An exhibition and sale of traditional Georgian clothing, ornaments, culinary also took place within the scope of the celebration. Theater performance and various sporting activities also took place.
The celebration was attended by the Head of the Government of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze, as well as the members of the executive and legislative bodies of Georgia.
Bakhtadze congratulated citizens with the Didgori Day.
“Victory at Didgori was the greatest manifestation of sovereign mindset and patriotism. At the same time, it was an outcome of a most accurate and very effective strategy, which serves as a role model even centuries away” stated the Prime Minister of Georgia in his opening speech.
“Didgori valley is a symbol of military glory of Georgians, our unity and freedom. Centuries ago Georgian army won a victory here over a powerful and voluminous army of the enemy. The battle has since been marked in history as a ‘Miraculous Victory.’ Didgori valley is an example of unity, sacrifice, and patriotism of Georgians,” he added.
Bakhtadze noted that the fight continues to this day, as a form of the endless labor and unconditional service to the homeland.
“His Holiness and Beatitude, Patriarch of All Georgia said some time ago that Didgori Battle carries on. Indeed, my friends, Didgori Battle, continues for each citizen of Georgia, and it is endless labor and unconditional service to the homeland. I am confident that with sound strategy, unity, great affection, endless labor and what is most important - with a shared spirit - we will have a unified and successful state by all means. We will have the strong, European state, that our ancestors fought for,” noted the PM while addressing the gathered crowd in Didgori.
The Prime Minister made comments with the gathered journalists regarding the ongoing challenges in the tourism and banking sectors.
PM noted that losses in the tourism sector had reached 60 million USD, based on the July indicators, though the very promising trend was observed in June in Adjara with an increase of 40% in contrast with the similar period of the previous year.
According to Bakhtadze, the analysis performed by commercial banks, as well as by the international financial institutions (IFIs) and National Bank of Georgia (NBG) confirms that “we were dealing with overstated depreciation of GEL.”
“Economic analysis evidence that all the leading factors are positive: export is at a rather high level, the very good trend is observed towards the reduction of the trade deficit. Therefore, optimism naturally exists in relation to the exchange rate of GEL,” stated Bakhtadze.
“We have all the grounds to expect that the exchange rate of GEL will stabilize and this negative background will vanish,” concluded the Prime Minister of Georgia.
The Head of the Government viewed the arranged exhibition of traditional crafts and attended a martial arts performance.
Public festival Didgoroba is celebrated annually on August 12 at Didgori valley, 40 km west of Tbilisi.
