Let's go to Mtsyri. Georgia

Mtsyri. Georgia Georgia is a very religious country. Of course, it is not about fanaticism, but the vast majority of its population is very devout and spiritual. The religious center of the country is concentrated in the city of Mtskheta, in the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region, a few kilometers north of Tbilisi.

"There, where, merging together, the streams of the Aragva and Kura make noise, embracing like two sisters, was a monastery". These lines from Mikhail Lermontov's poem "Mtsyri" describe an existing monastery - Jvari. Built on a mountain top, it seems to rise above the centuries. Its construction was preceded by a long period of paganism and idolatry. Before the monastery here was a place of worship of the Zoroastrian idol Ormazd (Ahura Mazda), in which in those dusty times, believed the entire population of Georgia. But in the fourth century, St. Nino came to Georgia from Cappadocia, Turkey, with a cross in her hand. She had a vision according to which she was to come to that country and bring Christianity to the pagans inhabiting it. Awakened, Saint Nino took two branches of grapes, tied them with her scythes and set out into a foreign country. The idol of Ormazd, or Omrazi in Georgian, was replaced by a cross, and later on this place in the VII century a monastery was built Dzhvari, which in the Russian translation is called "The Cross".

Mtsyri. Georgia In ancient, war-torn times, the monastery served not only as a place of spiritual purification, but also as a defensive fortress. Mostly, the Turks wanted to take possession of the territory through which the Great Silk Road passed. However, even if they managed to capture Georgian temples and churches, they did not destroy them, and left the famous frescoes almost untouched: the invaders liked them so much! The people depicted on many of the Georgian frescoes had only their eyes obliterated. Surprisingly, but in the Dzhvari monastery there are no frescoes. Perhaps because the defenders of the fortress had no time for fine art: the situation demanded war and prayer.

The monastery at the confluence of the Aragva and Kura is still active today: the monastic life flows smoothly, merging with the bustling life of tourists and traders vying with one another to offer jewelry, amulets, vessels and other handicrafts near the fortress gate.