Touring Georgia Inside Tbilisi: the Chronicles of Georgia

Behold. The massive Chronicles of Georgia.

The final stop of the day's tour was to the Chronicles of Georgia.

The Chronicles of Georgia consists of 16 massive bronze pillars.  On the pillars are various scenes depicting the history of Georgia, the history of Christianity, and the intersection of the two.  It was built to honor 3000 years of Georgian nationhood and 2000 years of Christianity.

The major downside was that there was stairs.  After climbing up and down the rocks of Uplistsikhe, my legs were in no mood for more stair climbing.  But I've come this far and the Chronicles look too inviting.

I first just wandered within the structure.

It was started in 1985, when Georgia still was part of the Soviet Union.  The artist was Zurab Tseleteli, who just passed away a few months ago.

It was in a sort of Stonehenge style, but not a Stonehenge pillar arrangement.  It is unfinished, although it looks complete to me.  I am not sure what is missing.

Taking a closer looks at the parts of the pillars closer to the ground:

My eye was drawn more to the Gospel scenes, since I understood those better, such as the scene of Christ washing the feet of his disciples.

Or being taken down from the Cross:

With scenes such as this, I was wondering if there were some "Stations of the Cross" scene going on.

But I couldn't see any numbering, and the scenes of Christ did not seem to be arranged in "Stations of the Cross" order.  And I didn't some scenes -- Veronica wiping the face of Christ on the Via Dolorosa comes to mind -- maybe that's why the Chronicles are rated "incomplete."  Probably, however, it could be because the stations are not part of Eastern Orthodoxy Christianity.

This appears to the Annunciation:

The temptation of Christ by the Devil:

Ever notice how the Devil is often portrayed as nude in religious art?  The question is rhetorical.

Here is the scene of Jesus walking on the water.  The best part of the story, depicting in the scene, is the often forgotten part about Peter getting out of the boat after being encouraged to do so by Jesus, only to fall into the water when it was revealed he then lacked the faith to fully trust the Christ.

But, as I said, when we move from the history of the church to the history of Georgia, I get lost.  I'm like Peter.  Flailing in the sea,

So another religious scene, this depicting the Risen Christ.

There is a small chapel on the premises:

I don't believe it is open to the public.  Or, at least, the tourist public.

Rappelling:

Again, it's not in the Gospels, so I don't know what is being depicted by the rappelling.

I can tell when the depictions related to Georgia Orthodoxy because of the way the figures look:

It is getting close to time to leave the Chronicles.

My mind keeps wanting to call these the "Georgia Guidestones," but those were something else.  A now-destroyed monument to one-world government and eugenics that was granite and somewhere in State of Georgia.  The other Georgia.

Good night from the Chronicles of Georgia.