On October 27 of 2018, 4th year students of YSU Ijevan Branch “History” Faculty, together with their lecturers, assistant of the Department of Armenian History and Social Science, PhD, Associate Professor A. Hovhannisyan and Associate Professor of the same department H. Movsesyan, made a study visit to the northern neighbor of Armenia; the Republic of Georgia.
The group of university students first visited the spiritual center of the Georgian people, Svetitskhoveli Cathedral which is the largest of Georgian preserved historic structures located in the historic town of Mtskheta. For centuries it has been considered the Christian center of Georgia. In the 4th century, the Christian king Mirian III built the first wooden church in Georgia by the advice of St. Nino, which was not preserved later. Mirian served as one of the columns of the temple and was known as the burial site of Christ’s mantle.
In the second half of the 5th century, King Vakhtang I Gorgasali built the upper armor of the basilica church, opened by Soviet researchers (led by V. Tsintsadze) in 1970. Instead of the damaged basilica in the 11th century, Priest of Georgia Melchizedek I built the temple (1012-1030, 1039-1045). Nowadays, the church is based on the cross-dome style of church architecture; the dome is placed across all four sides of church, named after twelve apostles, built in 1010-1029 (architect, Arsukisdze).
The road crossed along the Kura and Aragvi Rivers, which beautified the trip.
The next stop was Tbilisi, which is distinguished by its culture, style diversity. Complicated and interesting architectural structures created with the combination of Georgian and Caucasian cultures, were admiring. The influence of Western culture on Tbilisi was remarkable. The Georgian cuisine was more than interesting
The students saw the Tbilisi State University, walked over the mirror bridge, sat the ropeway, sat on one of the vessels on the Kura River, and admired the panorama and the bright lights of Tbilisi.
