The end of our Caucasian Georgia Pilgrimage - and an old Georgian Myth

There is an old Georgian myth as to why this country is one of such incomparable beauty - but I am getting ahead of myself...
It is our last day, Sunday, and we all celebrate a final Eucharist together in the Tbilisi hotel - a fitting way to end our pilgrimage. Then we have the morning free to do what we will. I head to Rustaveli Street and those parts of the huge Georgian National Museum collections that are housed in the impressive building there. This museum is quite simply fabulous and really needs far more than the couple of hours which I have available. The collection of pre Christian gold and silver is totally absorbing and I spend a long time poring over the display cases, well displayed and mostly with English translations. The gold and silver work is astonishing in its craftsmanship - for example a tiny gold lion with the most intricately detailed mane dates from 2600-2300 BC, the early Bronze Age. Next door I spend some time in the sobering new Museum of Soviet Occupation, with just a little time left for the display of weaponry used in the wars with Persia and Turkey in the 19th and early 20th century. Sadly when I finally make my way to the shop hoping for some sort of guide to take home with me the door is firmly closed - the shop has shut for lunch!
Even a long weekend would be scarcely enough time to explore Tblisi to the full. It is such a shame that it is a long journey to get there from America and the UK.
Lunch is not included today, and most of us find the excellent supermarket near the hotel, where picnics are clearly big business at the deli counter. Our individual choices from a fantastic selection are then beautifully wrapped and supplied with plastic forks and spoons as necessary.
There is a hiccup on the flight home - a very large bang wakes us up out of our dozing making us all jump. It is turbulence or air pocket we are variously told when we inquire of the staff, but the captain makes no announcement at all from the cockpit - that would have been reassuring. In all my many flights over the years I have often experienced turbulence, but never like that!

arriving tired and wet and cold at Gergeti church nr. Kazbegi

If Kazbegi and the steep uphill walk to Gergeti (Trinity) Church at 2170 meters in the pouring rain was the low point of our trip, our last full day at the David Garedzha monastery complex was certainly the high point for me at least. But like the walk to the highest church, there were some of the party who for various reasons could not take part and time must have hung heavy for them on both days.

arrived at Udabno (desert) monastery, tired, hot and happy!

Reflections: I would love to go back to Georgia and allow more time to further explore many of the places we visited. There were also many other churches and monasteries for which we had no time at all. This is always going to be the way with a large group, many different interests and so much to see.
It didn't always feel as much like a pilgrimage as did our previous trips last year, to the Holy Land and then to South East Turkey. But then in Turkey we stayed for several days in two different monasteries which enabled us to really get into the spirit of the liturgy and the mystery of the Orthodox religion. And of course the Holy Land is a very special place for followers of all three Abrahamic faiths, with so many of the significant places to visit within a small area. The long distances we had of necessity to travel in Georgia, tempted us at every turn into becoming tourists rather than pilgrims. I have covered the Holy Land and South East Turkey pilgrimages in previous blogs on this site.

I would like to express heartfelt thanks here to both Rosemary Nutt and her team at McCabe Pilgrimages, who organised such a splendid trip for us, and Southwark Diocese, particularly The Very Revd. Andrew Nunn, Dean of Southwark Cathedral, and his supporting team, who so ably led us with such good humor throughout. And of course thanks to our two wonderful tour guides from Visit Georgia, Maka and Levan.
My guidebook throughout the trip was Georgia, in the Bradt guide series, this one by Tim Burford, updated by Laurence Mitchell, fourth edition published June 2011, and I am grateful for much superb information supplied therein which enriched my visit to Georgia.

I think it appropriate that we should let God have the last word, and so I return to that old Georgian myth that I found on the comtourist website:

"When the God divided the Earth among the people, Georgians were late because of their traditional feast, and by the moment of their arrival the entire world had already been divided. When the God asked them to what they had drunk Georgians just answered: "To you, oh Lord, to us, to peace". The God liked their answer. So told them that although all lands were taken, he reserved a small plot for himself and now he decided to give it to Georgians. According to the God the land was incomparable in its beauty and all people would admire and cherish it forever." 

I say Amen to that!

Holy Georgia: in the Steps of St Nino and the Syrian Fathers - Pilgrimage Day 1 contd.

We are on day one of our pilgrimage to Holy Georgia in the Caucasus.

Metekhi Church

We start at Metekhi Church, perched high above the town on its crag looking down on the Mtkvari river below. The first church here was probably built by Vakhtang Gorgasali, the design possibly inspired by the Church of the Sepulcher of St Mary at the foot of the Mount of Olives in the Kidron Valley in Jerusalem. Eastern Christians believe this to be the burial place of the Virgin Mary although this is open to some doubt.

The current Church of the Virgin dates back to 1278-89, built by King Demetre II the Self Sacrificer. He was so called because he gave himself up for execution, hoping by doing so that he would spare his nation the ruin which was the fate of others who resisted the Mongolian rule of that time. He is said to have participated in a plot to overthrow the Mongol regional ruler Arghun Khan and as a result was tortured and beheaded. He was canonized as a martyr and saint by the Georgian Orthodox church.

This church has had a varied and turbulent history, suffering damage and subsequent restoration several times, before finally becoming the venue for a youth theater until it was restored for worship again in the late 1980s.

This is our first taste of the many interesting religious sites we are to experience in the days ahead. The impression we gain right from the start is of living buildings used regularly by the Christian people of Georgia, devout and committed to their faith and ready to publicly demonstrate this within their daily lives.

The present church shares its precinct with the much photographed statue of Vakhtang Gorgasali on his horse, which was completed in 1967 by the sculptor Elguja Amashukeli. One of Georgia's most popular historic figures, Gorgasali is credited with founding Tbilisi, as well as several other towns, castles and monasteries across Georgia. Legend has it that King Vakhtang was hunting with his falcon one day when the bird felled a pheasant, which plunged into a hot water spring. He ordered that a city should be built on this site, to be called Tbilisi, or "the site of warm springs."

Taking our lives in our hands we all cross the road at the bridge over the river - not many allowances seem to be made for pedestrians in Tbilisi - and it is then just a short walk past the Jewish synagogue (it is closed - a shame as I have always wanted to experience the inside of a synagogue and they never seem to be open for me!) to the Sioni Cathedral Church, where we are refused entry as a service is in progress. This is the one and only time when a place of worship refuses our entry, service or not. It is to be our general experience that churches are always open during the day, and people come and go in a very relaxed fashion throughout the orthodox services. I think the monk sees our cameras and mistakes us, not unreasonably, as tourists rather than devout pilgrims!

Inside Sioni Cathedral

But I do manage some photos nonetheless!

The white neoclassical bell tower across the street also catches my eye, and I learn later that this is indeed of architectural interest. It was built by the Russians in 1812 to commemorate their victory over the Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish war. It is the oldest example of its kind in south Caucasus.

Russian Neoclassical bell tower

Anchiskhati Church entrance

So we continue on past the entrance to the Patriarch Residence to the 6th century Anchiskhati Church, Basilica to Saint Mary, the oldest surviving church in Tbilisi, dating back to the sixth century and the first years of Georgian Christianity. The frescoes inside are magnificent, some nearly 400 years old.

There is a YouTube clip of the choir singing at Christmas 2012 some of the ancient Georgian polyphonic choral music for which they are famous.

We have luckily arrived in Tbilisi at the time of the annual Independence Day celebrations.

Tbilisi stages a flower festival to coincide with these celebrations and we are rewarded with the sight of beautiful flowers displayed throughout Sioni Square and Shardeni Street in the Old Town. Famous florists show off their best blooms, and we even see David Austin Roses represented here, a very English company renowned for its fragrant English Roses! Girls are making floral crowns to wear, and one huge floral circle is being lovingly put together as we watch. It seems that traditionally these woven crowns contain Chamomile but I can find little information about this. Suffice to say the streets are filled with color and the displays are beautiful!

Given a short while to wander around the Old Town our limited sleep last night catches up with a few of us who cannot resist a tempting coffee house. We are soon joined by the rest of the group and soon swamp the cafe with our orders! This somewhat delays our progress and is something we have to avoid in the future if we are to keep to our packed pilgrimage schedule. This will not be the only occasion when our long suffering guide has to juggle the time table to accommodate our digressions. 

After lunch we are meant to take the cable car up to the top of Sololaki hill, but it is not operating so our coach takes us part of the way and we walk the rest.

We are rewarded by a panoramic view of the town spread out below us. We walk past the statue of Kartlis Deda or Mother of Georgia, a twenty meter high aluminium statue which is designed to reflect the Georgian character. In her left hand she holds a bowl of wine for those who visit her as friends. In her left hand is a sword, ready for those who visit as enemies. This imposing statue was erected in 1958 to coincide with the city's 1500th anniversary celebrations. We go past the silent cable car station before wending our way down past the Narikala Fortress to the gardens at the bottom and the sulphur baths, looking down en route at the one and only mosque in the town that survived the anti religious purges of the 1930s.

Built in 1895, we are told that Sunni and Shia Muslims pray here together. If here, then why not in other parts of the world stricken so much by religious differences?

We have to hurry a little as at 4pm we are due at the Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary for a group Eucharist, the first of three we will celebrate during our pilgrimage....

To be contd...

Holy Georgia: in the Steps of St Nino and the Syrian Fathers - Pilgrimage Day 1

We are a party of 36 pilgrims from the Anglican Diocese of Southwark in the city of London, visiting many of the ancient churches and monasteries of Caucasian Georgia, following in the steps of St Nino and the Syrian Fathers.

View of Tbilisi

We arrive weary at our first hotel, in Tbilisi, on the Friday night, after two long flights with a transfer in Kiev in the Ukraine. Descending into Kiev airport at the end of the first leg of the journey we see the Dnieper River spread out below us. This is one of the major rivers of Europe, rising near Smolensk and flowing through Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is Ukraine's longest river. As we take off again for Tbilisi in Georgia there is the most wonderful red sunset.

covering trousers with skirts 

Our Georgian guide Maka meets us at the airport on arrival and we are introduced also to our driver who will safely look after us on all our journeys over the next nine days. It will be hot tomorrow we are told, with the slight possibility of a little rain, so we should dress accordingly, and bring comfortable shoes and water, for a walking tour of the Old Town of Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and dating back 1500 years in parts.

headscarves for the ladies before entering churches

Also essential for the ladies throughout the trip are headscarves, as we must always show respect by covering our heads when entering the churches and monasteries on our itinerary. Some places will even require skirts to be worn rather than trousers for the ladies, and the men are advised not to wear shorts. Fortunately the strictest churches and monasteries on the route invariably have a supply of wrap-around skirts and head scarves at the entrances for us to use as necessary.

As we speed along from the airport to our hotel I notice that the lower trunks of the many trees lining the roads seem to be covered with white paint. An initial thought is that the paint renders the trees more visible to motorists at night but I don't think so, as the pattern is repeated across the country. Someone says this may be to protect from animal damage. Perhaps, but a brief scan of the internet tells me that this is more likely to be to avoid scorching damage and the harmful effect of extreme changes in temperature between night and day from the force of the sun's rays, exaggerated in snow, particularly as the sun is at a much lower angle in the winter. Otherwise the trunks are prone to cracking and disease. It's apparently a latex paint, not oil based. (If any one has any more information on this, the botanist in me would love to hear!)

We also see many of the grim blocks of flats from the country's communist days. These are in stark contrast to the fantastic looking all glass modern building for the Ministry of Internal Affairs. We are told it has been a new policy since 2003 that all government buildings are thus designed, as a symbol of total transparency with regard to all government affairs.

George slaying the Dragon, Tbilisi

There seems to be plenty of life around at 1.30am - there are even cars being washed at car wash centres! The Old Town is beautifully illuminated, as we drive past the old city wall and Freedom Square or Liberty Square with the Liberty Monument depicting St George slaying the Dragon high up on a column. During the Soviet period, this square had a large statue to Lenin but this was symbolically torn down in August 1991. On November 23, 2006, the current monument, created by Zurab Tsereteli, was unveiled in the same place. Very striking at night is the floodlit TV broadcasting tower on the top of the hill above the town, and at nearly 275 meters clearly visible from all around. The Georgians seem to have some affection for this tower. 1.4 million of the 4.5 million population live in Tbilisi, and Maka tells us that like every lady, the town is striving to appear ever younger and more beautiful!

There is much scholarly debate as to the origins of the name Georgia, which contrary to popular assumptions may not be derived from St George, its patron saint.

Metekhi Church

We have barely five hours of sleep before we have to be up and breakfasted to commence our first day walking tour of the Old Town of Tbilisi.

We are reminded by our Dean who is leading our group that we are on a pilgrimage not a holiday! 

This is something we have to remind ourselves about quite often during the coming days; there is so much to see and experience in addition to the churches and monasteries which are to be our main focus.

Vakhtang Gorgasali
one of Georgia's most popular historic figures 

We start at Metekhi Church, perched high above the town on its crag looking down on the Mtkvari river below…