BLOG: A view of Tbatana, taken in the 1960s-70s.

When the Bats moved down from their mountain homeland Tsovata to the Kakhetian plain in the early 1800s, this was their mid-way or transitional point. They settled here for a few years, before definitely moving to Zemo-Alvani, the village where they reside now.Originally, they lived here in felt tents. The houses visible on the main photograph were built as summer "dachas", cottages, in the 1960s and '70s, and although almost all of them fell into ruin a long time ago, the place is apparently still a popular summer destination.

The grass in the central (no doubt originally purely black-and-white) photograph seems to have been hand-tinted green.

Source is this great blog: http://transcaucasian.blogspot.com/ by Alexander Bainbridge

The work of Alexander Bainbridge

Thanks to Hans Heiner Buhr: http://kaukasus.blogspot.com/