50 Lari 2011, Georgia
| in Krause book | Number: 73c |
| Years of issue: | 2011 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | President of National Bank of Georgia: Giorgi Kadagidze (in office from 26.02.2009 till 16.03.2016), Minister of Finance: Dimitri Gvindadze (in office from 20.06.2011 till 13.08.2012) |
| Serie: | 1995 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 1995 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 135 х 66 |
| Printer: | Unknown printer |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Denomination 50. Abbreviation "GEL". The fresco of the Queen Tamar, XII century (please read obverse description).
Avers:
There are three frescoes depicting Queen Tamara:
1) In the Vardzia Monastery, where Tamara is depicted with her father. It is chronologically the first image of the Queen from the three existing ones.
2) In Kintsvisi monastery, in the Kareli district, dates back to the most recent years of the life of Tamara.
3) In remote Betania monastery, in canyon of the Vera river valley, near Tbilisi. In the middle of the XIX century it was sketched artist Gagarin.
Tamar the Great (Georgian: თამარი) (c. 1160 – 18 January 1213) reigned as the Queen of Georgia from 1184 to 1213, presiding over the apex of the Georgian Golden Age. A member of the Bagrationi dynasty, her position as the first woman to rule Georgia in her own right was emphasized by the title mepe ("king"), afforded to Tamar in the medieval Georgian sources.
Tamar was proclaimed heir and co-ruler by her reigning father George III in 1178, but she faced significant opposition from the aristocracy upon her ascension to full ruling powers after George's death. Tamar was successful in neutralizing this opposition and embarked on an energetic foreign policy aided by the decline of the hostile Seljuq Turks. Relying on a powerful military élite, Tamar was able to build on the successes of her predecessors to consolidate an empire which dominated the Caucasus until its collapse under the Mongol attacks within two decades after Tamar's death.
Tamar was married twice, her first union being, from 1185 to 1187, to the Rus' prince Yuri, whom she divorced and expelled from the country, defeating his subsequent coup attempts. For her second husband Tamar chose, in 1191, the Alan prince David Soslan, by whom she had two children, George and Rusudan, the two successive monarchs on the throne of Georgia.
Tamar's association with the period of political and military successes and cultural achievements, combined with her role as a female ruler, has led to her idealization and romanticization in Georgian arts and historical memory. She remains an important symbol in Georgian popular culture and has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church as the Holy Righteous Queen Tamar (წმიდა კეთილმსახური მეფე თამარი, ts'mida k'etilmsakhuri mepe tamari), with her feast day commemorated on 14 May (O.S. 1 May). 
Top left is an emblem of National Bank of Georgia. The main motive of emblem is Borjgali.
Borjgali (Georgian: ბორჯღალი; also Borjgala or Borjgalo) is a Georgian symbol of the Sun with seven rotating wings over the Christian Tree of Life and is related to the Mesopotamian symbols of eternity. It is usually depicted within the circle that symbolizes the Universe. The roots of the Tree go into the "past" and its palm-like branches are for the "future". The Tree itself symbolizes the continuity between past, present and the future. The Borjgali is usually placed above the tree and symbolizes the Sun, eternal movement and life.
The term Borjgali is believed to derive from Megrelian word ბარჩხალი ("barchkhali"), which literally means "strong shining". Some other scholars believe that it has different origins. In old Megrelian borj means "time" and gal means "pass" or "flow". So the whole phrase would mean "the flow of time".
On left side is the image of the griffin with lions body from the east wall of Samtavisi Cathedral.
Samtavisi (Georgian: სამთავისი) is an eleventh-century Georgian Orthodox cathedral in eastern Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli, some 45 km. from the nation’s capital Tbilisi. The cathedral is now one of the centers of the Eparchy of Samtavisi and Gori of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
The cathedral is located on the left bank of the Lekhura River, some 11km of the town of Kaspi. According to a Georgian tradition, the first monastery on this place was founded by the Assyrian missionary Isidore in 572 and, later, rebuilt in the X century. Neither of these buildings has survived however. The earliest extant structures date to the eleventh century, the main edifice being built in 1030 as revealed by a now lost stone inscription. The cathedral was built by a local bishop and a skillful architect Hilarion who also authored the nearby church of Ashuriani. Heavily damaged by a series of earthquakes, the Cathedral was partially reconstructed in the XV and XIX centuries. The masterly decorated eastern façade is the only survived original structure.
The Samtavisi Cathedral is a rectangular 4-piered cruciform domed church. It illustrates a Georgian interpretation of the cross-in-square form which set an example for many churches built in the heyday of medieval Georgia. The exterior is distinguished by the liberal use of ornamental blind arcading. The apses do not project, but their internal position is marked by deep recesses in the wall. In contrast to earlier Georgian churches, the drum of the dome is taller surmounted by a conical roof. Artistically, the most rounded portion of the church is its five-arched eastern façade, dominated by the two niches and enlivened by a bold ornate cross motif.
Beyond the main church, the Samtavisi complex includes a badly damaged two-storied bishop’s residence, a small church (5.8 х 3.2 m.), and a three-storied belltower (5.7 х 7.3 m.) attached to the 3-5 m. high fence made of stone and brick. All these structures date to the XVII-XVIII centuries.
On background is stylized sun.
Denomination in number is in lower right corner (on background is hologram Georgian flag). In words on left side, vertically.
Revers:
The Sagittarius (November) from Georgian astronomical treatise of XII century (1188). Paper, mixed technique. Size: 30x23 cm. Today it is in the Georgian national museum.
The Georgian National Museum (Georgian: საქართველოს ეროვნული მუზეუმი, translit.: sakartvelos erovnuli muzeumi) unifies several leading museums in Georgia. It was established within the framework of structural, institutional, and legal reforms aimed at modernizing the management of the institutions united within this network, and at coordinating research and educational activities.
The Georgian National Museum integrates the management of the following museums:
Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi
Samtskhe-Javakheti History Museum, Akhaltsikhe
Open Air Museum of Ethnography, Tbilisi
Art Museum of Georgia, Tbilisi, and its branches
Museum of the Soviet Occupation, Tbilisi
Dmanisi Museum-Reserve of History and Archaeology, Dmanisi
Vani Museum-Reserve of Archaeology, Vani
Museum of History of Tbilisi, Tbilisi
Museum of History and Ethnography of Svaneti, Mestia
Institute of Palaeobiology, Tbilisi
Sighnaghi Museum, Sighnaghi
Denominations in numerals are in lower corners, in words - vertically, centered and on right side.
Comments:
Security strip with microtext.
Designer: Georgian artist Nodar Malazonia.
Designer of Lari sign: professional artist-ceramist Malkhaz Shvelidze.
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