Click map to see detailed route
Click map to see detailed route
7 September Kutaisi – Tbilisi
More Frescoes
I
woke up early and got a taxi to explore the monasteries to the northeast
of Kutaisi. US$15 to and back… a reasonable price. Motsameta
was our first destination. This was where two brothers were killed
by Arab invaders for refusing to convert to Islam and thrown into the gorge
below. They became saints and legend has it that if one crawls three
times under their tombs without touching it, one’s wish would be granted.
However, I did not have the opportunity to test this theory, for the monastery
was closed when I arrived. The driver decided to take his initiative
in handling this matter – he picked up a huge rock and knocked loudly on
the doors, in a manner not significantly different from the behaviour of
an average resident of a mental asylum. I was getting embarrassed
– I could imagine how disturbed the saints must have been in their graves
– especially when the environs were so serene and this chap was shouting
for the monks to open the doors. Well, we were ignored – perhaps
thankfully as I was quite embarrassed by then and didn’t want to face angry
monks – and we set off for Gelati Monastery instead.
Gelati,
built by King David the Builder in the 12th C., has the most amazing Orthodox
frescoes I have seen anywhere. Brightly and extravagantly painted
frescoes adorned the interior – they were not affected by the whitewashing
campaigns undertaken by Tsarist Russian authorities after they abolished
the Georgian Orthodox Church upon Russian conquest. Many ancient
paintings in churches around Georgia were destroyed as a result but somehow
Gelati’s remained intact. Here, one not only sees paintings depicting
biblical scenes but also episodes in Georgian history. Amazing works
of art… I can’t helped it but snapped away with my camera. To the
other corner of the monastery complex was the South Gate, where I walked
on the tomb of King David himself... built in the centre of the Monastery
gateway, so that visitors may remember the great king - an act that was
as much of self-ego as well as humility...
I returned to Tbilisi on Thursday afternoon on another mashrut, sitting on the front seat, which meant that I was completely roasted even before I reached the capital. I bought a khachapuri along the way for lunch, but somehow I decided that I no longer like what was until this day my favourite Georgian dish. I knew it’s time to get home…
I walked around the city centre shopping for souvenirs, and bumped into
two Aussie backpackers who didn't know what to do or see in Georgia, and
I pulled them along to meet J., a British expat friend living in Tbilisi.
From 10pm to 5am the next morning, we had quite a few bottles of wines,
brandy and beer..hospitality with a Georgian-British flavour...
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8 September Gori & Tbilisi
Stalin Fever