Mtatsminda: The Sacred and the Grotesque

Mtatsminda is a mountain overlooking Tbilisi.

"Minda" means mountain.

12 May 2012 correction, thanks to 'George from Georgia';

'Mta' means mountain,
'Tsminda' means - sacred.
Mtatsminda - Sacred Mountain.

Atop Mtatsminda are an amusement park, a communication tower, and near the top, an historic church and cemetery.

The communication tower and the amusement park's gigantic ferris wheel are lit at night. The ferris wheel is blue. The communication tower is a glittering amalgamation of red, blue, yellow, and white.  The two are iconic beacons to those in the city below.

There used to be a tram that ran people up and down the mountain, but that seems to be out of service. You can take a city bus up the winding mountain road for only 50 tetri! It's a very scenic drive, taking about 30 minutes.

Neli has been nagging sweetly encouraging me to visit Mtatsminda for weeks, nay months. With Kate visiting here, the time for the visit had come.

Sandy, Kate, and I caught the city bus for Mtatsminda on Rustaveli Avenue and began our scenic wind up the mountain. If that's all we would have done, it would have been good, well worth the time (not to mention the negligible fare).

We drove by flowering trees, the forested mountainside, and panoramic views of Tbilisi below. Some restaurants tucked into the woodlands. People walking up and down the mountain. We reached the top, where the bus let us off.

The first thing we saw was jaw-dropping in its immensity, turgidity, and ... grotesquerie.

Who designs this shit? I mean really.


It was like a scene from Dante's Inferno.

We stayed here only long enough to use the WC and to find out how to get to Mamadaviti Church ("Father David's").

I confess that I can't keep track of all of Georgia's churches, how old they are, and the specific ins and outs of their unique frescoes (or lack thereof). So all I can say is that this church is old and Father David was much beloved. Oh, wait, here's a link. 

There is a cemetery in the churchyard, occupied by important members of Georgia's intelligentsia. And also Stalin's mother, but not Stalin.

The church and its yard perches on the side of the mountain. From the mountain's top, we climbed down and down and down on the paved path, wondering if the threatening thunderstorm would attack at any moment. We walked down and down and down with complete faith that we would not have to climb back, and indeed, we had mutually decided there was no way in Hell (see above photo) we would do such a thing.

Mtatsminda - Steps down from the mountain.

In the church, there was a service in progress. It was packed with worshippers. Swirling within, we heard the most beautiful chant song, all men. It was so crowded, no photos or video possible.

Mtatsminda, Georgia. Father David Church.

The cemetery, called the Pantheon of Writers and Public Figures, has intriguing grave monuments.



I am perplexed by the monument below. If you're going to be coy about the man's possession of a penis, wouldn't it make sense to sculpt at least the suggestion of clothing? And it's not as if Georgians are bashful about such things. I see men urinating in public quite frequently. Wait, maybe not as frequently as that just sounded. But for example: Twice this week. 

Mtatsminda, Georgia. Father David Church cemetery.

Presently, we left the church and resumed our walk down to the city.

View of Tbilisi from Mtatsminda

View of Tbilisi from Mtatsminda

View of Tbilisi from Mtatsminda

Eventually, we made it down to a street with yellow marshrutkas bobbling by; we grabbed one and then escorted Sandy to the Didube metro and market, where she caught a marshrutka to Gori.