Georgia's Stonehenge

Good morning, all, and I apologize for the long absence.  I have been busy, both doing what they’re paying me for, and seeing and experiencing as much of this lovely country as I can.  This post is going to jump around a bit, so stay w/ me.

I visited two of the local sites:  the Georgian Stonehenge and a castle called Sh’vilo (Shhh-veelo).  This posting will deal with Stonehenge and I’ll post another one just on Sh’vilo and some other random thoughts.

This still-under-construction monument is being built on one of the tallest hills surrounding Tbilisi.  It’s designed to honor past Georgian kings while graphically showing the life of Christ.  It’s a large structure, consisting of nine large monoliths, the upper half of each having a carving of a particular king.  The bottom half of each pillar shows a Biblical scene.  There is no separation of church and state in Georgia.  They are completely intertwined in daily lives and any Georgian would consider any attempt to separate the two as ludicrous.  OK, since a picture is worth a 1000 words let me just show you some of the highlights.

This is a photo of the entire complex.  As I said, it’s damn big. 

This is one of my favorite carvings.  It depicts Satan’s temptation of Christ.

I was impressed with some of the details of these carvings.  These show the betrayal and arrest of Christ.  Note the detail on Christ’s face in the second photo.

And what representation of Christ’s life could neglect the crucifixion.

My favorites, though, might be these.  They show Christ being removed from the cross.  Again, note the fine details.

I can’t wait for this site to be finished.  It promises to be magnificent.  OK, while I’m on a roll I’m going to put together another posting of random thoughts and the Sh’vilo castle complex. 

Thanks for reading.