Kin-Dza-Dza in real life. What they did in Georgia with the best cable car in the USSR (12 photos)

In Georgia there is an amazing city of Chiatura, located among black rocks, between which there are deep abysses. When creating the film "Kin-Dza-Dza", director Georgy Danelia was inspired by the local cable car.





The region makes an unforgettable impression; it once had the most powerful network of cable cars, and over 60% of the world's manganese is mined here. Shall we go for a walk?

Why is he so famous?

The mining town of Chiatura is located 200 km from Tbilisi. All areas are connected to each other by cable cars, and there is an extremely difficult mountainous landscape. In the city with a population of 30 thousand inhabitants in the 60s of the twentieth century, there were 17 funiculars. Among them were for passengers and technical ones - for the delivery of manganese ore.



Cable car in Georgian Chiatura

The first cable car was built in 1954. In those days, this building was equipped with the latest technology and became a distinctive symbol of the settlement. There was even a slogan on advertising brochures: “Chiatura – the capital of cable cars”

In 2016, a state expert commission came to the conclusion that the famous trailers (as if from the movie “Kin-Dza-Dza”) needed to be dismantled; it was no longer possible to comply with safety standards. After this verdict, the cable car continued to function for many years.





Cable car in Georgian Chiatura

The road workers joked sadly at that time: only Heaven protects structures from disaster. The screenwriter of “Kin-Dza-Dza” Rezo Gabriadze spent his childhood in Imereti, the Chiatura cable car was the impetus for writing the script, making this region famous throughout the world.

City of Soviet cable cars

The first mines in the vicinity of the city began to be developed in the second half of the 19th century. Within a short time, Soviet power turned the settlement into an industrial center for manganese mining.



The locals are stern and very serious people; after walking around the town, I quickly became convinced of this. There is an established opinion in Georgia that the biggest silent people are the Svans and Khevsurs, but they are clearly inferior to the Chiaturans.



Cable car in Georgian Chiatura

I think this is due to the harsh mountain landscapes and the hard mining work of the local residents. Life here is not easy, there is no fertile land, the settlement is located in a “bowl”, which is surrounded on all sides by tall rocks. The manganese deposit provides employment to many thousands of people and keeps the city afloat.



A free ride on the cable car in Chiatura is an extreme action comparable only to a parachute jump. Looking at the trailers for the first time, you involuntarily think about the frailty and meaning of existence in this world.



Cable car in Georgian Chiatura

The mechanisms are so outdated that it is not clear how they do not fall into the abyss. During an extreme journey, you listen with curiosity to creaks, “grunting” and other strange sounds, as well as strong gusts of wind in the gorges.

Georgian "Kin-Dza-Dza"

It was not for nothing that Georgy Danelia came up with the “pepelatsa” for his film “Kin-dza-dza”. You can take a ride on the old cable cars: for example, on Line 25.

It starts from the City Council, the final stop is a plateau as flat as a table on a high mountain. The second line takes residents to the neighboring mountain, the opposite side of the gorge.



Cable car in Georgian Chiatura

The third one takes passengers to another mountain, where a residential area is located. About five years ago I was in Chile, the city of Valparaiso, and there are similar funiculars there, which are scary to look at, and after taking a ride in them, you mentally congratulate yourself on your second birthday, which just took place.



Cable car in Georgian Chiatura

In Chiatura, they have also completed the construction of new reversible routes that depart from the restored station building in the center of the village. The total length is more than 3.5 km. The new gondolas accommodate up to 10 people and charge a small fee per ride.

Why is Chiatura one of the most interesting villages in Georgia?

Chiatura is beautiful on a sunny day, attracting brutal style and harsh mountain landscapes. There is no tourist varnish and glamor when all the attractions glitter.

The city captivates with its naturalness, as if it says to the traveler: here I am as I am, and if anyone doesn’t like it, pass by and don’t stumble.



Cable car in Georgian Chiatura

Walking around Chiatura I simultaneously felt a touch of psychedelia, something between the impression of the film “Kin-dza-dza” and watching films about the distant future. I really liked it and even somehow hypnotized me.

For workers, sanatoriums, cultural centers and a whole cable car infrastructure were built here. Residents did not live in poverty, salaries were good, and manganese was needed in huge quantities in steel production.

Times have changed, but cable cars continue to be the “trademark” of the locality.



Cable car in Georgian Chiatura

At the central station there is a panel with bas-reliefs of Lenin and Stalin. In his youth, Joseph Vissarionovich hid in a miners' village from persecution by the Tsarist secret police.

The mining and processing plant operates around the clock, without weekends or holidays. Batches of workers are delivered in suspended, dilapidated carriages. There are large sheer black cliffs and bottomless gorges all around.

Results:

Chiatura is attracted by the eclecticism of its architecture: there is modernism, brutalism, and empire style. Tolerable conditions have been created for travelers: there is a place to spend the night in a hotel, have lunch in a cafe, and relax in a park.

For a visitor, the unusual beauty of the mountains looks breathtaking, but local residents have long been accustomed to such “exotica” and do not pay any attention. I also recommend stopping by the plateau where the Mgvimevi monastery is located, from there you can enjoy an incredible view of the entire city and surrounding area!



Cable car in Georgian Chiatura