Once Will was in easy reach of his weigh-in weight (70 kilos, about 154 pounds) we had a day to take a break from the hotel gym, the Sports Palace, and wrestling. I booked a bus tour to see the old downtown and to travel out of Tbilisi and into the old capital of Georgia. Hundreds of years ago (about 400 AD) the capital was Mtsketa (pronounced something like MISS-skett-ah). There was this famous king, Gorgasali (pronounced something like GOR-gah-saul-ie) was hunting with a falcon in the land that was to become Tbilisi. His falcon captured a pheasant but both birds fell from the sky and landed in one of the natural hot springs. When Gorgasali found both birds they were boiled. Gorgasali thought the land had it all: forests, rivers, hot springs, wildlife, and would make an excellent capital for the country. So he had the capital moved from Mtsketa to Tbilisi.
Modern Mtsketa is home to several ancient churches/cathedrals/monasteries. Our second bus tour of the day was of Mtsketa. Our tour guide rattled off the story of Georgia and it's history as we drove out to Mtsketa. Georgia has this incredible tie to religion. Their religion is similar to Catholicism but they do not follow the Pope as their leader. Our tour guide said that over 94% of the population considered themselves devout members of their religion. There were churches everywhere when we drove by in a taxi our drivers would cross themselves continually.
Our first stop was the Jvari Monastery. The Jvari Monastery is way up on a hill and was also a fortress. The wind was wild! The views were incredible!
Two rivers meet in Mtskheta. One is dark and clear, the other is muddy. Where they meet, they run side by side for a little while before mixing into one big river. We could look down from the fortress and see the two rivers meeting and the line of dark clear water vs. muddy water.
The next stop was Samtavro Monastery. They call the Samtavro Monastery "Second Jerusalem" because it holds several important icons in the Georgian religion. First: the robe Christ wore to Golgotha. Apparently, a woman picked up Christ's robe and died on the spot. They buried her under a pilar in the church with the robe. The pilar that stands there now weeps holy oil because Christ's robe is underneath it. There is also a story about the placement of the pilar involving Saint Nino (the woman who brought Christianity to Georga) the king and queen and all the priests and patriarchs praying. I can't remember the details but something miraculous happened and this story is depicted in paintings in all of the churches in Georgia. The Samtavro Monastery also claims to house a toe bone from the apostle Andrew, and a robe of the prophet Elias. Several Kings are buried here too. It is a very holy place for Georgians.
One King decided it was appropriate for people to walk across gravestones on the floor of churches because the dead would sense that the person walking was a Christian and coming to church to worship Christ.
This is the pilar where Christ's robe is buried and that weeps holy oil.
This is the throne where Kings were crowned and sat for church.
This is a well that is in the same room where Elias' robe is buried. This well filled with water miraculously one day when the Monastry was under siege, enabling the people trapped in the church to survive the siege.
We couldn't go into the room where the toe bone of the apostle Andrew was supposed to be. There was some kind of service going on in there. So we had to settle for a picture of us in front of the room.
This is a painting of King Gorgasali (wolf head is coming) you can see he is wearing a helmet with a wolf head on it. His name means wolf head is coming. I guess he always wore a helmet with a wolf's head on it. He was also a fierce defender of the country and earned a reputation for his ferocity. He was also very tall and imposing. He's a dude all the Georgian people like.
The last site we visited was the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. This church was the site of a Monastery where Saint Nino lived when she brought Christianity to Georgia. The kind and queen of the time built her own little church and the big church. Oh! How could I forget this little gem! In the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, they have the uncorrupted remains of their most recent patriarch (prophet/pope). Apparently, this guy was acting strangely as a child and institutionalized. Then people figured out he wasn't crazy but divine and giving prophecies that were coming true. So they made him the leader of the church. He reined for many years. When he died his body did not decompose. So they enshrouded his body and keep it under glass in this cathedral. Once a year, on the anniversary of his death, they lift the shroud over his face to show people his uncorrupted face. Wild!
Saint Nino's little church.
The Jvari Monastery high on the hill.
When we got back to Tbilisi proper we toured the peace bridge and a park. It was a great day to learn more about Tbilisi and Georgia.
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