Story
The story of Jvari
Jvari means “cross”, and the story of this hilltop begins with one. According to tradition, in the early 4th century Saint Nino, credited with converting King Mirian III of Iberia to Christianity, raised a large wooden cross here on the site of a pagan temple. The cross was said to work miracles and drew pilgrims from all over the Caucasus.
Around 545 a small church was built over its remains; you can still see it beside the main church on the north. The great church followed between 590 and 605, built by Guaram's son Stepanoz I. It stands on a cliff at 656 metres, above the meeting of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers and the old capital of Mtskheta, and seems to grow out of the mountain. Inside, the dome rests on the walls rather than pillars, which makes the church feel vast, although it is less than 25 metres high.
Jvari became the model for a whole type of church in Georgia and Armenia.
This story is compiled from Wikipedia and other open sources; dates and numbers are checked against the source. The text is shared under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. Source ↗
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