Photos

gnikoladze (0) 2007-03-12 18:16

That dude on the horse is the Georgian King Vakhtang Gorgasali, who have founded the city of Tbilisi in the 5th century A.D. That is a Metekhi Church on the hill, was used as a prison during the Russian occupation of Georgia. The tiny church bellow the statue of King Gorgasali (in the photo, only the roof is visible) is dedicated to the Christian martyr Abo Tbileli. In 8 century Arabs invaded Tbilisi and Abo (who was an Arab) came along with the invading army. However, impressed by Christian faith he converted to Christianity soon after. Arabs learned about his conversion and on that exact spot tortured Abo endlessly until he finally died in agony. The Georgian church decided to build a small church on the spot where Abo was tortured.

BTW thousands of Georgians were massacred on that place during the Persian invasion of Georgia. By failing to convert to the Muslim faith by force, people were killed and their bodies dumped bellow in the river. The church of Metekhi was destroyed, and on the spot where you see the basilica, the Persian Shah had his seat installed from where he observed the mass killing.

Great photo.