Mtskheta

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Mtskheta
მცხეთა
State : GeorgiaGeorgia Georgia
Region : Mtskheta-Mtianeti
Municipality : Mtskheta
Coordinates : 41 ° 51 '  N , 44 ° 43'  E Coordinates: 41 ° 51 '  N , 44 ° 43'  E
 
Residents : 7,940 (2014)
 
Time zone : Georgian Time (UTC + 4)
Postal code : 3300-3319
Mtskheta (Georgia)
Mtskheta
Mtskheta
Overview of the city

Mtskheta ( Georgian მცხეთა ) is the capital of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region in eastern Georgia . Mtskheta is now a religious center in the country.

geography

Mtskheta has 7,940 inhabitants (2014) and is located just a few kilometers north of Tbilisi at the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi rivers in the Greater Caucasus .

history

Archaeological research such as the one on the Samtavro burial ground shows that the city has existed for over 3000 years. For almost 1000 years up to the 6th century, Mtskheta was the capital of the Iberian Empire, which, along with the kingdoms of Colchis on the Black Sea coast and Kartlien, is a predecessor of today's Georgia.

Located in the center of Iberia, Mtskheta was one of the most important trading cities between the Caspian and Black Seas on the Silk Road . The Roman historians Strabo , Plutarch and Pliny reported on the city's fortresses, the largest of which was Armasis Ziche . Ziche means “fortress” in Georgian and Armasi was the god of the Caucasian Iberians. The walls of the fortress enclosed the royal palace and the temple , in front of which a large statue of the god stood.

Attractions

The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta
Monument above the "Holy Rock of Mzechta"

There are numerous valuable cultural monuments in Mtskheta and its surroundings . They are part of the UNESCO World Heritage . Among them is the medieval Svetitskhoveli Cathedral ("life- giving column"). According to legend, an angel helped set the pillars of the oldest church built on site. As the main relic, a robe of Christ ("holy skirt") is venerated in it. The current church with galleries and a high dome on four massive pillars was built between 1010 and 1029. For a long time it was the burial place of the Georgian kings from the Bagratid dynasty . Destroyed by Timur Lang , it was rebuilt in the 15th century.

The fortress Armas Ziche (3rd century BC. Chr.), The Armas Ziche Acropolis (late 1st millennium BC. Chr.), Fragments of the royal palace (1st to 3rd century), a nearby grave (1st century) a small church (4th century) and the fortress Bebris Ziche (14th century) are further witnesses to the city's long history.

The Samtawro women's monastery, which has been revived for some time, with its 11th-century Saint Nino Church , is characterized by wonderful plastic facade decorations and extensive stone carvings . It was restored in 1903. Since 2014 the relics of St. Gabriel Urgebadze († 1995) venerated.

Georgia's oldest cross- domed church in the Jvari Monastery ("Cross Monastery") rises on a protrusion of the Sagurami mountain ridge on the other side of the Aragvi River . It was erected between 586 and 604 at a place where, according to tradition, Saint Nino erected a large wooden cross. The proportions, the laconic decoration, the deeply thought-out structure and the perfect masonry are admirable .

Not far from the exit to Jvari Church, on the left, you can see the dam of the Semo-Avtschali power station , which was built in 1927 at the confluence of the Aragwi and Kura rivers .

traffic

With the opening of the corresponding section of the oldest railway line in the country, the Poti – Baku railway line , Mtskheta received a connection to the railway and a train station in 1872 .

  • Mtskheta Police Station

  • Glass facades symbolize transparency towards the population

  • In the background the railway runs through the valley

  • Confluence of the Kura and Aragvi.jpg

  • River view.jpg

Town twinning

Mtskheta maintains the following cities a twinning :

Personalities

Web links

Commons : Mtskheta  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ UNESCO World Heritage Center: Historical Monuments of Mtskheta. Retrieved August 25, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Annegret Plontke-Lüning. East and West: about the tradition of the robe of Christ in Mtskheta and Trier . In: Erich Aretz (publ.): The Holy Rock in Trier . Trier 1995, 139-162.
  3. ↑ Armin T. Wegner: Five fingers over Dir. Notes from a journey through Russia, the Caucasus and Persia 1927/28 , Reprint Wuppertal 1979, pp. 145–147