Queen Tamar

Queen of the Golden Age

c. 1160–1213

Tamar reigned from 1184; under her Georgia reached its greatest power: victories at Shamkor and Basiani, influence «from sea to sea», a flowering of culture.

Rustaveli dedicated The Knight in the Panther's Skin to her. The Church canonised Tamar; her lifetime images survive in the frescoes of Vardzia and Kintsvisi.