The
walled fortress of Ananuri, 70 kilometres north of Tbilisi, the capital of
Georgia, lies above a reservoir that provides water to the region. The ancient
fortress and church of Ananuri is a 13th century castle complex. The
Jinvali Reservoir (often written Zhinvali) belongs to the Dusheti municipality
in the Mtiuleti Region. It is connected to the Aragvi River that joins the Mtkvari
River (that runs through Tbilisi) at the town of Mtskheta. The reservoir is on
the Georgian Military Highway that joins Tbilisi to Stepantsminda – a small
town formerly called Kazbegi after the Georgian writer Alexander Kazbegi (1848-1893).
Running through the picturesque Caucasus mountain region, the highway continues
to North Ossetia.
The
Jinvali Reservoir has one of the largest hydroelectric power stations in
Georgia at the Jinvali Damn, built in 1971, the last built by the Soviet
government. Apart from household water and fish (trout), it feeds 13.8 million
kilowatts of electricity to the capital.
Government
plans in 2012 to build additional reservoirs caused controversy as villagers
recalled the submersion of villages and grave sites during the construction of the
Jinvali Reservoir (http://ens-newswire.com/2012/03/05/dam-projects-face-resistance-in-georgia/).
The
Jinvali Reservoir is best viewed in winter when the water appears dark blue as
it rises to full capacity. The photographs here show my visit to Jinvali
Reservoir in October 2010 when it was full, and the most recent visit in the
spring of May 2014 when it was at low capacity.
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