Tour Day 7: “This morning, pay a visit to the ancient capital and religious centre of Mtskheta. Here you’ll be joined by a local guide to explore Mtskheta’s historical sites, including the sixth century Jvari Monastery 11th-century Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. Continue on to the town of Gori in the heart of Kartli region.
“With your local guide by your side, visit the ancient Uplistsikhe Cave Town – a rock-hewn dwelling where the Great Silk Road used to pass. Afterwards travel by Georgia’s most scenic road – the Military Highway to reach Stepantsminda, more commonly known to locals as Kazbegi. Enjoy the views of the Greater Caucasus range and get ready for some hiking tomorrow.”
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On the road again! Maybe we are at a stop waiting for the others?
Lonely Planet again: “Between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD, Uplistsikhe developed into one of the chief political and religious centres of pre-Christian Kartli, with temples dedicated principally to the sun goddess. After the Arabs occupied Tbilisi in AD 645, Uplistsikhe became the residence of the Christian kings of Kartli and an important trade centre on a main caravan road from Asia to Europe.”
My shoes are holding up well (knock on wood!) and although I took every hand offered, I did make it to the top and back down without incident.
The local guide telling us about Uplistsikhe Cave Town. I’m writing this many days after our tour so I can say now Georgian local guides talk FAST. Every one of them and I have no idea why.
Inside the church. Faces lit by candlelight are irresistible.
Along the Mtkvari River.
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Next stop, the Stalin Museum in Gori, the town of his birth. I was worried about this place and sure enough I felt creeped out. Self-fullfilling prophecy? I don’t think so. Like who is it that is daily adorning this statue with large expensive bouquets?
Lonely Planet: “This impressively designed museum makes no serious attempt to present a balanced account of Stalin’s career or deeds. It remains, much as when it opened in 1957, a reverent homage to the Gori boy who became a key figure of 20th-century history…”
That inset picture was prominently displayed, huge, in an elaborately gilded frame.
They built a palace to protect his humble birth home.
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If you follow how the tour is described and how it turns out, you’ll see that the order gets changed often depending on the weather and other factors, traffic for example, that the guides take into account when moving from site to site. Our Ksenia has been doing a wonderful job.
This is Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, from the Georgian Travel Guide “the main patriarchal cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the Mother Cathedral of Georgia, the place of enthronement of the Georgian Catholicos, the burial site of many kings of Georgia.”
Oh look, there’s another one up there. I’ll bet we’re going to visit that one next…
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Yes, and it’s another good one. Actually, I’ve been loving that there are so many and we are seeing a good chunk of them. One after another, it builds up a real feeling for what they are like. Jvari Monestary, “Jvari is a rare case of an Early Medieval Georgian church that has survived to the present day almost unchanged.”
We’ve been seeing brides all day today. I see why too, the old monasteries are so scenic and historically meaningful.
Now the drive on to our accommodation at a ski resort town (Stepantsminda, commonly called Kazbegi, the Darchi Hotel) where it is, at the moment, snowing.
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