Tskhrajvari

Tskhrajvari (literally nine crosses), a shrine of St. George, is located in the Imereti region, near the Nakerala Pass, on the top of a mountain near Tkibuli, at 1500 meters above sea level.

Every year on the last Saturday of May, "Tskhrajvaroba" is celebrated in Imereti, especially in Tkibuli Municipality and its villages.

In addition, a unique cave is discovered near the Tskhrajvari temple.

LEGEND

There is a legend according to which 9 sons from one family went to war. The boys' father prayed daily that his sons would return home safe. He decided to make an offering and erected crosses on the mountain of Tkibuli. He lifted 9 crosses on his shoulders to the mountain and built a shrine there. After the end of World War II, all the sons returned home unharmed. Since then, the shrine has become popular among tourists.

According to another legend: long ago in Svaneti, the Sopromian brothers killed the prince, after which they emigrated from Svaneti, settled in a small village in Okriba and changed the surname to Sopromadze. After a while, God's wrath fell on the Sopromadze family. Newborn sons of the Sopromadze family died before reaching the age of majority. And then one day, the horrified people gathered in the open air and prayed to God: raise a son for us, and we will release a pigeon, and where it sits down on, we will build a shrine for the glory of the Lord.

Indeed, the elders of the Sopromadze family released a pigeon, which, as it turns out, sat down on the top of this mountain. They carried stones to the mountain on their hands, many even died during the construction, but in the end, after long torment and hard work, they erected a small shrine on the mountain. On the last day of the construction of the temple, they made a feast, slaughtered many heifers and birds. In the middle of the feast, after getting drunk they started to fight, using the sharp bones of heifers as a weapon; the sinners severely wounded each other and the blood was shed. After sobering up, they experienced great regret, knelt down and asked the Lord for forgiveness. Since then, the Sopromadze family, annually, on the last Saturday of May, praises the Lord and rejects the meat.

HOW TO GET THERE

Tskhrajvari is located near the Nakerala Pass, where the road connecting Tkibuli and Ambrolauri passes. The distance from Nakerala Pass to Tskhrajvari is 3 km, where a dirt road is less than 1 km long, followed by a walking trail of medium difficulty.