“Over 500 grafted seedlings, representing 30 varieties of Georgian vines, were planted on Mount Athos in northeastern Greece,” - the Georgian Ministry of Agriculture reports.

Levan Ujmajuridze, Director of the Scientific Research Centre of Agriculture at the State Agricultural University of Georgia, took part in the planting event, which was held at the Georgian monastic cells of the Cathedral of the Archangels, near the Vatopedi monastery complex.

The Centre also supported the event by providing seed material for 10 types and varieties of local Georgian wheat.

The planting ceremony coincided with the commemoration of the 100,000 Georgian martyrs, a historical event in which Orthodox Christian believers were executed in Tbilisi in 1226 by the Khwarezmian sultan Jalal ad-Din for refusing to abandon Christianity following his capture of the Georgian capital. The event took place on November 13.

The visit was organized under the leadership of Giorgi Andriadze, Head of the Research Centre of Ethnogenetics of Georgia, and Gela Japaridze, the Georgian Consul General in Thessaloniki.