in the then-ruined Betania Monastery, which was uncovered and restored by Prince Grigory Gagarin in the 1840s. The fresco became a source of numerous engravings circulating in Georgia at that time and inspired the poet Grigol Orbeliani to dedicate a romantic poem to it. Furthermore, the Georgian literati, reacting to Russian rule in Georgia and the suppression of national institutions, contrasted Tamar's era to their contemporary situation, lamenting the irretrievably lost past in their writings. Hence, Tamar became a personification of the heyday of Georgia, a perception that has persisted down to the present time. Tamar's marriage to the Rus' prince Yuri has become a subject of two resonant prose works in modern Georgia. Shalva Dadiani's play, originally entitled The Unfortunate Russian (უბედური რუსი; 1916–1926), was attacked by Soviet critics for distorting the "centuries-long friendship of the Russian and Georgian peoples." Under Communist Party pressure, Dadiani had to revise both the title and plot in accordance with the official ideology of the Soviet state. In 2002, a satirical short story The First Russian (პირველი რუსი) penned by the young Georgian writer Lasha Bughadze and focused on a frustrated wedding night of Tamar and Yuri outraged many conservatives and triggered a nationwide controversy, including heated discussions in the media, the Parliament of Georgia and the Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church. She is a playable leader of Georgia in the 4X video game Civilization VI. Veneration Tamar has been canonized by the Georgian Orthodox Church as the Holy Righteous Queen Tamar (წმიდა კეთილმსახური მეფე თამარი, ts'mida k'etilmsakhuri mepe tamari; also venerated as "Right-believing Tamara"), with her feast day commemorated on 1 May (of the Julian Calendar, which equates to 14 May on the Gregorian Calendar) and on Sunday of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women. The Antiochian Orthodox observe the feast of St Tamara on 22 April. Genealogy The chart below shows the abbreviated genealogy of Tamar and her family, tracing it from Tamar's grandfather to her grandchildren. See also Order of Queen Tamara (disambiguation) References Citations Sources (English Summary) External links Queen Tamar: The myth of a perfect ruler The Forum, BBC Sounds Georgian coins minted in Tamar's reign, Zeno – Oriental Coins Database. Irakli Paghava, THE FIRST ARABIC COINAGE OF GEORGIAN MONARCHS: REDISCOVERING THE SPECIE OF DAVIT IV THE BUILDER (1089–1125), KING OF KINGS AND SWORD OF MESSIAH |- 1160s births 1213 deaths 12th-century women rulers 13th-century women rulers 13th-century Christian