GUELATI MONASTERY

You enter the monastery from above, going down through a wide portico. The path leading to the churches is paved. The complex consists of three churches, a bell tower and the ruins of the academy. The main church, whose foundations were laid in 1106, is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. Inside, the frescoes depicting scenes from the Bible and the lives of the princes are in Byzantine style. To the left of the altar, the figure on the right is David the Reconstructor holding the church in his hand. This is one of the most celebrated images of Georgian spirituality. The main apse of the large choir is decorated with a mosaic of 2.5 million pieces. It was executed between 1125 and 1130 and depicts a Virgin and Child surrounded by the archangels Michael and Gabriel. It was offered to David by the Byzantine Emperor Alexis Comnenus.

Opposite the entrance to the Church of the Virgin stands the smallest of the churches, dedicated to St. Nicholas, it dates back to the 14th century. You can walk up the outside stairs to find a bird's eye view of the complex. Next to it is the 16th century bell tower, under which a miraculous spring flows. The canals damming the water are remarkable.

The third church, the first on the left as you enter the sanctuary, is dedicated to Saint George; it is built on the same plan as the church of the Virgin, hence the great unity of the complex. It is actually the oldest of the three churches, founded by David's father before he decided to found his most prestigious monastery there. Inside, 16th century frescoes depict the life of Saint George and scenes from the New Testament.

The second porch of Guélati, to the southwest (on the left as you leave the church of the Virgin), was once the main entrance to the complex. This is where David's tomb is located. It was the king's wish that every pilgrim entering Guelati should walk over his tomb, to wash it symbolically of all his sins. The inscriptions on the iron gates that decorate David's tomb are in Arabic. They were brought from Ganja in 1139 to present-day Azerbaijan by David's son, Dmitri I, and explain the geographical origin of the gates.

Just in front of the Church of St. Nicholas is the building of the former academy. The building housed a school of philosophy, where rhetoric, grammar, music, medicine and astronomy were also taught. The most renowned Georgian scientists and scholars taught there, including Ioanné Petritsi and Arsene Ikaltoeli.