Bodbe, about two km from Sighnaghi, has a 5th century convent that shelters the remains of St. Nino, who converted the King and Queen to Christianity in the 4th Century.  The convent was rebuilt between the 9th and 11th centuries.  George tells me that all that remains from the 5th century is the foundation.  It, and St. Nino’s spring, a constant source of holy water a few hundred meters away are pilgrimage points.  The chapel’s frescoes are from the 1820s.  The Soviets plastered them over and used the building as a hospital.  Some of the frescoes have been restored.  The … Continue reading Bodbe Monastery (St. Nino’s Convent), Georgia

At Alaverdi, on the other side of the pass we visited a monastery that has a cathedral within its walls.  Until the new Tbilisi Cathedral it was the tallest Georgian church.  It, like the Tbilisi church, has a soaring feeling of light even though the walls are decorated with frescoes.  These frescoes were covered with whitewash or plaster by Moslem invaders, restored, and covered again by the Communists.  A monk Joseph (Yoseb) Alaverdeli founded the cathedral.  But Alaverdi has another meaning in Arabic “God Provides.”  God provides good grape and Alaverdi Monastery is at the center of Georgia’s wine industry. … Continue reading Alaverdi Monastery and Cathedral, Georgia

I had waited for the number 4 minibus for a long time so I decided to spend 10 times the amount and take a cab to the Sameba (Holy Trinity) Cathedral.  Georgians say it is the largest Orthodox Church in the world.  Serbs dispute that saying St. Sava is bigger.  Sameba Cathedral has a tall tower with a gilded cupola that reflects sun in the day and floodlight at night.  It dominates Tbilisi.  As the cab followed the route the mini-bus would have taken I discovered the problem.  Police were rerouting traffic.  The mini-bus was not going to stop at … Continue reading Sameba (Holy Trinity) Cathedral, Tbilisi, Georgia

The 14th century Gergetis Sameba (Gergeti Trinity) walled monastery sits above Kazbegi and below Mt. Kazbeg at 7120 feet above sea level – and reflects light from a glacier that hangs 2,800 feet above the monastery. The monastery was a place of refuge for icons and relics from the Mksheka Cathedral (Perhaps including St. Andrew’s foot) when southern Georgia was overrun by Turks, Persians or Arabs.  In 1988 the Soviets built an aerial tramway to the monastery but when Georgia broke away from the Soviet Union the residents tore it down.  For them pilgrimage should not be easy.  The tramway … Continue reading Gergetis Sameba Monastery, Georgia

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mksheka is the mother church of Georgian Orthodoxy.  St. Nino converted the King and Queen there.  I posted pictures from here in May but I had no pics from inside the church.  Nicholas, my cab driver, spoke good English and he arranged permission for me to take pictures if I did not use a flash.  There was a service in progress.  It was conducted in Russian but the choir sang Georgian hymns.  Nicholas pointed out one very strange and old fresco with three concentric circles.  The Trinity sat in the bull’s eye, between the inner and middle circles, the … Continue reading Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mksheka, Georgia

Jvari (Holy Cross) Church is near Tbilisi, about a three hour walk or half hour drive.  It looms over Mtskheta.  Before Georgia became reasonably prosperous it used to be a full day excursion, now it a common picnic spot for people wanting to get out of town for an hour or two.  It is the spot where the King Mirian, who was converted to Christianity by St. Nino and, in turn made Georgian a Christian nation (Georgia was a “Christian” country before Rome) erected a cross to mark his, and his nation’s conversion.  The church itself was built to shelter … Continue reading Mtskheta and Jvari Church, Georgia, 2013.