Georgia. Gelati - Prometheus Caves

So, this was our third day in Georgia. On our very first day we visited David-Gareji monastery and touristic city of Sighnaghi in Kakheti region. On the second day we joined our host Vadim on a guided tour to Georgian religious landmarks Jvari, Mtskehta and Shio-Mgvime, got a taste of Georgian feast, visited Ananuri castle, had a swim in Zhinvali lake and went up the Greater Caucasus mountains.

Now Vadim was headed over to Kutaisi to meet a group of his former tenants from Vilnius, Lithuania in order to take them on a two-days trip in Western and Southern Georgia. On the menu were Gelati monastery, Prometheus caves near Tskhaltubo, Borjomi, observatory and thermal springs in Abastumani, Khertvisi castle, cave city of Vardzia and more great food and wine. How could we not join him?

At 6:30 in the morning Beso and his mini-bus were already by the gate and soon we headed towards Kutaisi in Imereti region. The drive from Tbilisi to Kutaisi took us about 3 hours. On the way we did not stop and mostly were trying to catch up on the morning sleep.


Some three hours later we were in Kutaisi but did not stop there. Vadim explained that the city itself was not of as much interest. Even though it was the capital of the ancient Kingdom of Colchis as early as the second millennium BC and is believed that when Jason and the Argonauts took their legendary journey to Colchis in search of the Golden Fleece, Kutaisi (then called Aia) was their final destination. In the 10th-11th century it was the capital of the united Kingdom of Georgia and from the 15th century until 1810 it was the capital of the Imeretian Kingdom.
However the sacral center is located not in the city itself but in nearby Gelati Monastery (გელათის მონასტერი) and this is where we headed.
By the way, Gelati's is pronounced starting from "g" as in "go" and not "djelati" as in Italian ice-cream

Do not forget to wrap yourselves in shawls and put on long pants. We are coming in.

The Monastery for a long time was one of the main cultural and intellectual centers in Georgia. Many Kings of Georgia and Imereti were buried here. The Church of Virgin Mary the Blessed from the outside looks very similar to other Georgian churches but wait till you go in. In the interior a great number of murals dating back to the 12th-17th centuries have preserved. So buckle up, there will be many murals in this post!

Walking along the walls you can see some murals ornate with stone carvings even from the outside. Again, like in other other churches, for example Svetitskhoveli in Mtskheta, the faces have been scratched off.

Our guide was not just a guide. He is had been ordained some ecclesiastical rank but now with the blessing of Georgian Patriarch he researches religious history and writes books about Georgian past.
Of course, the temple covered with murals from floor to ceiling is impressive anyway, but with such a knowledgeable guide you can read the language of the ancient artists.

Fragment of the Northern wall with The Entry into Jerusalem mural from XVII cent

Central dome with XII century Mural of Christ Pantokrator on its ceiling. The word Pantokrator can be translated from Greek as  "Almighty", "All-powerful" or even "Sustainer of the World". It is a popular motive in Eastern Christian churches. The dome resides on pendentives depicting 4 evangelists. The drum  contains windows letting in the sunlight.

The murals are arranged in a certain order showing both the events from Christ's life, saints and Georgian Kings.

As we learned during our visit to Svetitskhoveli in Mtskheta, Georgian temples are covered with frescoes from top to bottom. This differs Georgian Orthodox Church from the one of Russia. In ancient Russia where there is an abundance of wood, the first temples were built of wooden beams and therefore religious art was developing in the direction of icon painting. In Georgia the churches were made of stone and so you cannot find icons in a traditional Georgian church. Instead, the church is covered with murals.
This tradition also affects the altar partition: in Russian church the altar (also called iconostasis) consists of several tiers of icons (sometimes up to 6 rows) so the people cannot see anything behind it. In Georgia the altar partition is only one story high and the apse with a hemispherical semi-dome contains the main image of the church.

As the church is devoted to Virgin the Blessed the altar apse is decorated with Theotokos (a Greek word that corresponds to Madonna in Western Church). Unlike the rest of the monastery, it is not a mural but a mosaic. The number of tesserae varies in different parts of the image being the highest on the faces and hands.
The image of the Virgin is done taking into account the perspective distortion so had the image been straightened the proportions would have been skewed, but from the eye level they are harmonious. 

Mosaic Virgin with Archangels (1125-1130)

The Virgin is surrounded by the archangels and resides on the belt with angels, between the windows are Seraphs (or are these Cherubs?).

The murals on both sides of Arc de Triomphe tell the story of Virgin Mary starting from the Annunciation on the upper right ending with the Dormition. The murals are "read" from right to left and are not displayed in chronological order but rather in symbolic one with images of death being counterweighted by the images of resurrection.

One of the most famous murals depicts Queen Rusudan, Prince Bagrat, King George II, Queen Helen and King Bagrat III of Imereti. There is also Catholicos Yevclemon Chetidze and David the Builder holding the scaled model of the temple, but the lens was not wide enough to fit in all of them.

The guide took us to the side chapels on the Northern side, also adorned with murals from various periods. We do not know whether the chapels are always open for public or were open specifically for us. But if you have a chance try to get in: the murals are not less impressive than in the main cathedral and the small size of the chapel allows to see every brushstroke up close.

One of the Church Fathers

 

The Lamentation of Christ - Georgian Pietà

The Dormition of the Theotokos (or Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Western tradition)

Another Entry into Jerusalem and Crucifixion in one of the chapels

  King George II, Queen Rusudan and little Prince Bagrat of Imereti receive heavenly blessing

In one of the chapels there is a painting on a wooden plate depicting among other things the hell with symbols of all sins: killing, stealing, giving false testaments...

The chapels give an opportunity to see how Georgian church is organized: low altar partition permits to see the frescoes behind it.

Archangels guarding the altar same way like they guard the entrance to Heaven

The windows are guarded by Seraphs with 6 wings

Annunciation, Nativity, Resurrection of Lazarus and Transfiguration

On the way to Southern side chapels we stopped to photograph the mural on top of the main entrance...

Virgin with Archangels

 ...and saw a wedding ceremony in progress.

According to Orthodox tradition the bride and groom both wear crowns.

But we did not want to disrupt the newly weds and moved on to the Southern side

In one of the chapels there was a mural depicting Kings of Imereti with unusual "curtains" painted below. Even though the mural suffered a lot, some symbols are visible such as stars made of two overlapping triangles (like Jewish star) and of two overlapping squares. One of the versions is that the mural contains clues to finding legendary Queen Tamara's tomb. Some Georgian Kings are buried in Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, some right here, in Gelati. However Tamara's burial place was never found. Legend says that the Queen was "proposed" to marry a neighbor Muslim shah in a very humiliating way. Of course, she said 'no' and thanks to the military success of Georgian troops she was never forced into marrying him. However the vindictive shah promised he would not leave her alone, dead or alive. In order to prevent the grave from being profaned by her enemies, 9 identical carriages left Mtskheta and went to 9 different directions. Each of them could contain Tamara's body so it was impossible to trace each one of them. Some place Tamara's body as far Holy Land, but most common version is that the body is in a secret niche here, in Gelati (however it was not found). The curtains that symbolize something hidden could be pointing at Tamara's burial place.

Guide pointing at the star made of two squares. Could there be Tamara's tomb?

As the wedding ended we returned to the main church to have a look at some more murals.

Of course, we would not have noticed such details if not for our guide. Look at the mural below: Jesus washing feet of his disciples. Look at the apostles: one of them has a black halo - this is how Judas was marked.

Another interesting mural is Jesus in front of Pontius Pilate. Unusual is the fact that even though in ancient Rome they did not wear beards (it was considered Barbarian) and neither did they wear turbans, here he is not depicted in accordance with Roman fashion. Well, at that time the main enemy of ancient Georgians were the Muslim neighbors. They were perceived as enemies of Christianity and therefore the enemies of Christ himself. So the medieval painter depicted Pilate washing hands in a typical Persian attire of his times. 

Some more murals from the chapels:

The Church of Virgin Mary the Blessed  is not the only attraction of the Gelati complex and so we go out of the church to see the next object.

Our guide pointing at the solar clock on the church wall. The clock is divided into 12 sections - one for each sunny hour of the day - and is still working: it was quarter to 1pm.

We are headed towards the former monastery gate where is buried one of the greatest (if not the greatest) Georgian kings, David the Builder. David was an epic figure in Georgian history and one might only wonder what he would have accomplished had he had a bigger country to govern. Under his rule Georgia was reunited and most of the lands of the Caucasus were brought under Georgia’s control. Some claim that as the strong Georgia was able to drive the Seljuk Turks out of the country, they could not advance further. Had the Georgian King been weaker, they could have conquered Europe. In this perspective David can be considered a great king not only in Georgian, but on the international scale.
Such a great king of course deserved the greatest tomb but David ruled otherwise. In his will he wished to be buried under a big stone in Gelati monastery gate so that it was impossible to enter the monastery without stepping on his tomb. This way David gave his people example of Christian humbleness. Nowadays the entry to the monastery is organized from another side, but there is a plan to restore the gate with a small bridge over David's tombstone so that people can enter the monastery without stepping on it. Near David's grave are the gates of Ganja, which were taken as trophies by king Demetrius I in 1139.


Next stop after the gate is the building of Gelati Academy.
King David the Builder gave close attention to the education of his people. The king selected children who were sent to the Byzantine Empire "so that they be taught languages and bring home translations made by them there". Many of them later became well-known scholars.
At his time existed Academies here in Gelati as well as in Ikalto in Kakheti (which we will visit on our last day in Georgia). 
Gelati Academy employed some of the most celebrated Georgian scientists, theologians and philosophers. Extensive research work was carried here. As David was the king between 1089 and 1125, Gelati Academy can be considered the contemporary of Bologna University, the oldest high education establishment in the world.
The Academy entrance gate has a square shape with each of the pillars representing one of the Evangelists. The ceiling of the gate is adorned with an unusual cross consisting of 4 overlapping cross under 45 degrees. The sphere in the middle symbolizes the globe and the universality of knowledge, the crosses symbolize Christianity  laying on the overlapping of the Old and New Testaments. I cannot explain it so well, but hope one day you will hear it.

Ceiling of the gate

Inside the Academy you can see the dean's table in the big hall where the lectures were held. In the middle of the hall there is round rock closing the mouth of kvevri, traditional Georgian giant pitcher where they kept wine. Located in front of the dean's seat, the wine pitcher was used as a token of appreciation: when a student answered well he was rewarded - some wine was poured  from kvevri.
Of course - this is Georgia! - they had a viticultural faculty in Gelati Academy. I am pretty positive, they did not have one in Bologna so maybe Gelati cannot contest the fame of the oldest university, but for sure it was the first higher establishment where they studied viticulture. 

Academy gate from inside.

While the group was shown the remains of the wine cellar we were distracted by a monk trying to lure a cow.
By the way, here in Imereti, they grow different sorts of grape. While in Kakheti the most popular whites are made of Rkatsiteli grape, here in Imereti they favor Tsitska and Tsolikauri. They say, there is little less sun here and even the same grape brought over to Kakheti gives very different taste. But we will talk more about Georgian wine-making during our tour to Kakheti.

Last look at Gelati monastery.
Overall, this was one of the highlights of our Georgian trip. Of course, a lot of things impressed us, but some memories are just the brightest. Gelati monastery is definitely one of our top 3 along with David-Gareji monastery and cave city of Vardzia.

At the exit the rows of street vendors are waiting for tourists...

But we had no time to waste. We were headed towards Tskhaltubo.
Tskhaltubo (another version Tsqaltubo) is a spa town famous for its radon-carbonate mineral springs with natural temperature of 33-35°C. During the Communist times, it was a popular resort attracting thousands of visitors a year. It was made famous by Comrade Stalin himself. Stalin's frieze has until now preserved in bathhouse 9 and visitors can see the private pool where he bathed on his visits.
Communist era saw the city flourish: giant sanatoriums (they did not have the word SPA these times) that look like palaces with marble balconies, columns and banisters popped around the town. However now the city is in decline. Nowadays Tskhaktubo is far from its former glory as it attracts only some 700 visitors a year (as opposed to 125,000 during the Communist rule). Plus, after the conflicts in Abkhazia the city is used to house refugees, primarily women and children, displaced from their homes by ethnic conflict.
We did not stop in Tskhaltubo, just drove through this ghost city with abandoned marble palaces...

Our goal lays farther: Prometheus caves. Discovered in the 1980's they were not open to public until a few years ago: the collapse of the Soviet Union and ethnic conflicts are not the favorable time for developing tourist objects.
It is mandatory to visit caves with a guide but since we could not hear a word of what she said, just enjoy the pictures.

We stopped at the market at Zestafoni and Vadim bought some wine for lunch. Then we had a nice Georgian lunch presided by Vadim. But more about Georgian food later.

It was getting dark when we stopped at Borjomi, the town famous for its mineral water industry (which is presently the number one export of Georgia). After having tasted natural mineral water from the fountain we headed towards Akhaltsikhe where we were supposed to stay for the night.
This was not the last event for the day: after Vadim placed us at hotel Prestige (50 lari for a double room - nothing special but neat and tidy) we were supposed to continue our journey to Abastumani observatory and mineral springs.
It was past midnight so the Lithuanian group with small kids opted to stay in bed. But we wanted to explore everything on the menu and joined by Dronov family from Kazakhstan, embarked on our mini-bus.

The last two objects for the day - Observatory and thermal waters - are interconnected. The area was popular for its climate and thermal waters. These little mineralized, rich in sulfate-sodium chloride waters, have long been used in the treatment of tuberculosis. So when  a member of the Russian imperial family, Grand Duke George Alexandrovich, fell ill with tuberculosis in 1890, the royalty relocated to Abastumani in order to benefit from its healing powers. The climate of Abastumani was so healing, that even though the doctors were saying the future heir of Russian throne had only a few months left, Grand Duke kept enjoying his life in Georgia. He had all time in the world to indulge into his hobbies. One of them was astronomy.
The Duke requested for one of the famous astronomers to join him and together they were watching the sky, making some observations and sending them to science societies of their time. Their notes made some buzz in scientific circles as the two observed some celestial objects that should be impossible to see with simple telescopes they had. The sky of Abastumani was officially proved to have extraordinary transparency, favorable for astronomic observations.
No wonder, when during the Soviet rule they were looking for a location to build a future observatory, Abastumani came up as a strong candidate. It was founded by Eugene Kharadze in 1932 on Mount Kanobili near Abastumani.
As to Grand Duke - well, he died 9 years after he was diagnosed, in 1899 in a motorbike accident. Who knows how long he would otherwise had lived in this healing surrounding?
Until now, Georgian astronomers continue research there and they are given credit to quite a few discoveries despite not having the most modern telescopes (could it be the magic of Abastumani sky?). The Observatory specializes in the research of sun halo and its coronary telescope is one of the best in the world.
The observatory is located on top of the mountain and even though the drive is only 5km, it is quite a drive. Especially at night. But by then we knew we could trust Beso and even caught some nap on the way. We made it to the observatory long after midnight. Vadim had to do some negotiations until we were eventually let in and were allowed to look at the telescope at one of the stars. Our star for the night was Altair - α Aquilae, the brightest star in the constellation Aquila.
The mere feeling of being in the observatory near huge telescope at 1am was amazing. And again - we could not have gotten there without Vadim.

Next stop - and last for the day - was at the famous thermal springs.
It was past 2am so we did not believe anything would be open but continued along as Vadim guided us. Upon arrival we were met by an angry old man who was the guard of the thermal baths. At first he seemed determined not to let us in, but after a long conversation that ended with some bills being passed from Vadim to the guard, we were escorted in the baths.
Being from Estonia, where the spa culture has developed during the last years, especially on Saaremaa island famous for its spa tourism, in Abastumani baths we saw a lot of missing opportunities. Natural healing springs are a natural gem still waiting for its faceting. On the other hand, had Estonian capitalist bought the baths, we would not have been able to bathe in there at 3am. There were two basins with natural thermal water - one warm, the other one warmer. Floating in the hot water at 3am, after a long day that started at 6 in morning gave it a wonderful end. And again, we would not have gotten there without Vadim.

Our very eventful 3rd day in Georgia started at 6am and ended in 4am, some 22 hours later. And it is scary to think how long it lasted for our driver Beso who was already by the gate at 6:30 in the morning.

Just a few hours of much needed sleep. Tomorrow we were to visit Khertvisi fortress and Vardzia cave city.