Mtskhketa, Georgia

Insectophobes, beware! Today's images - of a praying mantis in Georgia's old capital, Mtskheta - won't please you. But it's a harmless creature at this size, its sharp forelegs little able to pierce my fingers as they do the other insects on which it preys.

Mtskheta, Georgia

Salt lake near Jvari Monastery, Lali's cousin Gio and I

Picnic at the salt lake

Tree with prayer rags at the Monastery

Mtskheta, Georgia

View from Jvari Monastery window to the confluence of Rivers Aragvi and Mtkvari

Jvari Monastery itself

A copy of Nino's cross of vine branches

Mtskheta, Georgia

Welcome to the first Moroccan visitor! Country number 118!

March this year, a trip with Lali and friends to the capital of Georgia from roughly 500 BC to 500 AD, the place where Christianity got its start in the country via Saint Nino of Capadocia. Here, the ancient Jvari (Cross) Monastery (6th century), overlooking the city from above. (The angels in the bottom shot, like all the stonework on the church, were defaced in ancient times, presumably by iconoclastic Muslims.)

Lali, Tbilisi/Mtskheta, Georgia

First attempts at a vision still being pursued

Canada & Georgia

I stand corrected, the last of yesterday's shots was Pshavi, not Khevsureti. Today:

Terry relaxing on a camping trip, Miette, BC, Canada

Dewdrop on leaf

Ice doing cool things, Mtskheta, Georgia (the old capital, from c. 500 BC-500 AD)

Wedding, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mtskheta, Georgia, February 2007

Now there's a mouthful of a name!

Svetitskhoveli is one of the oldest churches in Georgia, at least foundation-wise. It's magnificently set in Mtskheta, which was the old capital, functioning as such from c. 500 BC to 500 AD, the date of Tbilisi's accession to capital city status. So St. Nino brought Christianity here in c. 337. Here, also, legend has it that a Georgian Jew visiting Jerusalem for the Passover acquired the robe of Christ at His crucifixion. Returning to Mtskheta, he was greeted by his sister who, clutching the robe, died instantly, it then being irremoveable from her hands. She and it were buried together in what became the foundation of the cathedral. "Svetitskhoveli" translates as "Life-giving pillar": during construction, one of the church's pillars hung obstinately in the air, refusing all attempts to settle it, until Nino's prayers prevailed.

The cathedral has also long been a favourite wedding venue for Georgian couples. Thus the photograph. Until a few years ago it was Georgia's largest church; but that position has, as with Tbilisi, been taken by a young upstart, Tsminda Sameba (Holy Trinity). However, this church will always have the weight of a venerable history for its glory.