Vardzia
Unintended consequences .
Andre Willers
24 Apr 2014
Synopsis :
Underground fortress caused it’s own destruction . Much like
Earth today .
Discussion :
1185 saw a woman, Tamar, on the throne of
Georgia. This was a first for the country and extremely unusual in the
Europe of the twelfth century. Her reign nevertheless, saw a flowering of
culture and she wished to build a fortress because of the Mongol threat .
The Mongol empire had been inexorably
expanding and little Georgia was under threat constantly. What better an
idea, then, for their fabled Queen to have her monastery carved from solid
rock. It looks like it is the ruins of some giant Tolkien city, Minas
Tirith in ruins. Yet this was not to be the home of dwarves but of monks .
The underground fortress was duly built at
great cost (think Maginot Line) and withstood the Mongols (who couldn’t be
bothered by such a low value target)
Then in 1283 a major quake caused the
whole front face of the mountain which hid the underground complex slide off .
Catastrophe !
It was caused by the industrious undermining
of the stability of the slope .
Law of Unintended Consequences .
The Hidden Assumption that gets you .
See the “After” picture :
The guts of the fortress was exposed , as
well as having killed probably 2/3 of the defenders .
The contour lines above the slide were
agricultural terraces .
A cautionary example of ignorance and
hidden assumptions .
Andre
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