ABSTRACT

The monastic complex founded in the middle of the sixth century in the southwest part of Georgia, in historical Kakheti, by Saint David, one of the so-called Syrian Fathers, who came to the country with the blessings of Saint Simon the Stylite, is the largest Christian Orthodox spiritual center in the Caucasus. The significance of the Stone of Grace is closely linked to local tradition, which influences all spheres of creativity, and, according to that tradition, the holy places in Georgia reflect the sanctity of Jerusalem. The most eloquent evidence of this notion is Mtskheta- an old capital of the country, which is the home of the most sacred relics venerated by Christians. Several places and sanctuaries in Mtskheta have copies of the topography of Jerusalem, thus pointing to the conveyance of the Jerusalem tradition to Georgia. In 1811, Archimandrite Illarion (Beburishvili) began a major repair on the Church of the Transfiguration.