The Monastery of the Holy Cross, associated with the name of Shota Rustaveli, is dear to every Georgian, but belongs to the Jerusalem Patriarchate (Greek Orthodox Church).
It is located in the west of Jerusalem, between a rich residential neighbourhood and government buildings.
It is located in the west of Jerusalem, between an affluent residential neighbourhood and government buildings. However, in ancient times, it was a remote and secluded place from the city. And very important for Christians - tradition believes that it was here that the tree from which the cross for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was made grew. The first monastery was built here in the 4th century - as the legend says, on the orders of Emperor Constantine. Later, both Persians and Arabs repeatedly killed the monks and destroyed the building.
A new monastery on the ruins built in the 11th century Georgian monk George Shavteli (money for the construction was given by the Georgian king Bagrat IV Kuropalat). And in the 12th century, as many historians believe, the great Georgian poet, author of the famous poem "The Knight in the Tiger's Skin" Shota Rustaveli appeared here. It is very likely that he was an important official at the court of Tsarina Tamara. According to one version, he tonsured himself as a monk because of his hopeless love for the queen; according to another, more realistic version, he came to the monastery to personally supervise its next restoration. It is believed that here he is buried, although there is no evidence of this.
In the 13-14th centuries the monastery flourished, monks - the best Georgian scholars and poets - gathered here. However, by the 16th century the monastery withered. At that time the financing of the monastery from Georgia stopped, it was necessary to sell part of the property (and they were once extensive), to get into debt. The Greek Orthodox Church, which has owned the monastery ever since, paid off its creditors. She and opened it to visitors..
From afar it looks like a fortress. It was built as a fortress, although it did not help: the monastery was conquered more than once, for some time there was even a mosque here. Behind the powerful walls stands out the bell tower of the 19th century in the Baroque style. Visitors can usually see the inner courtyard, monks' cells, an ancient well, a former refectory with a long marble table, many ancient items of monastic life, an impressive church with a stone vaulted dome. The mosaic floor in the church was left from the very first Byzantine monastery. It is said that the dark stains embedded in the mosaic are traces of the blood of monks who were slaughtered in the 8th century by an Arab mob. A special room marks the spot where the very Tree of the Cross (planted and nurtured by Lot, according to the Apocrypha) is said to have grown.
On one of the columns, a fresco depicts Shota Rustaveli - it is the only surviving portrait of the poet. In 2004 it was barbarously damaged: the face and part of the inscription in Georgian were destroyed. Officially no one was accused, but similar things happened here in the 20th century, when Georgian inscriptions on the frescoes were erased and replaced with Greek ones.
