Churches and Monasteries

The latest visits to churches and monasteries.

The first you can see is Sameba cathedral; it's golden roof visible from almost every high part of Tbilisi.

The next is St Nicolas' church in Narikala. I went to mass there with Nicole two weeks ago. I'm not converting to Orthodoxy just yet; my student sings in a small choir there and invited me to listen. Haunting and powerful- religion here is much, much stronger than in the UK- and the churches are beautifully painted inside- all the walls covered with bible stories and saints (my saint is Saint Ketevan).

The third photo shows St Gabriel's monastery, nestled in the mountains about 45 minutes outside Tbilisi. You can go down to Gabriel's tomb in a cave under the church. It is said that touching his tomb can heal all sickness and that by putting your baptism cross (everyone here wears a cross necklace) or other jewellery on it, you will carry his blessing with you. Well, it's all worth a try... so I put my earrings on!! (Note for nan- they were the gold earrings you gave me for Xmas, so now they are holy earrings!!!) :-)

The last photo is looking down on the round rooves of the hot spring (sulfur) bathes in Tbilisi- not a holy place but the closest to bathing heaven you can get!!!