2018-02-01
Athos – Spring of the Patriarch
On January 30, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) hosted a presentation of the book “Athos –Spring of the Patriarch.” Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze; Minister of Education and Science, Mikheil Chkhenkeli; Rector of the Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary, Archpriest Giorgi Zviadadze; representatives of the Georgian Patriarchate and invited guests attended the event.
The book has been authored by Zviad Chumburidze, Secretary General of the EU-Georgia Business Council and Executive Director of Georgian University Society, who served as the Ambassador of Georgia to Greece in 2003-2007.
“The book describes the first visit of Georgian Patriarch Ilia II to the Mount Athos. The publication contains a lot of unique materials and the public will have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with these materials. Just this fact has aroused huge public interest,” Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze said.
“Athos – Spring of the Patriarch” describes the visit of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan Bishop of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II to the Mount Athos in 2004, where he also visited the Monasteries of Great Lavra and Xeropotamou. Ilia II was the first Georgian Patriarch who visited the Mount Athos and toured holy places among them the Iveron Monastery and the Iveron Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary). The book represents a collection of the ambassador’s memories and unique photo materials about the historical visit.
“Since the 10th century, not a single Georgian Patriarch had visited the Mount Athos. Ilia II was the first top-ranking cleric, who visited the holy places on the Mount Athos. The book provides brief information about this visit and contains photos taken by me, depicting the Patriarch’s visit to the Mount Athos. It also contains several very important photos, which have not been published anywhere. Among them are Tornike Eristavi’s chain mail and Ekvtime Mtatsmindeli’s Gospel stored in the Iveron Monastery. About 30 000 manuscripts, unique items belonging to Georgian cultural heritage are also stored in the monastery,” Zviad Chumburidze, author of the book, said.
Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli noted that “the book presentation was held at TSU not only because the author is the Executive Director of Georgian University Society, but also because this book is very important for our future generations, our students as it will make an important contribution to establishing supreme values and educating our students.”
The Mouth Athos takes a special place in Orthodox Christianity. The Iveron Monastery was the center of Georgian science and culture in the 10th-16th centuries. Just this center helped Georgia come closer to European values and culture. Noteworthy that the Iveron Monastery contains a unique repository storing hundreds of rarest manuscripts and other cultural heritage monuments. The book also contains the photos depicting Tornike Eristavi’s chain mail and Gospel manuscript by Ekvtime Mtatsmindeli. These unique relics are part of the national treasure stored in the Iveron repository.
The book aims to preserve the information about the Patriarch’s historical visit to the Mount Athos for future generations.
The book has been authored by Zviad Chumburidze, Secretary General of the EU-Georgia Business Council and Executive Director of Georgian University Society, who served as the Ambassador of Georgia to Greece in 2003-2007.
“The book describes the first visit of Georgian Patriarch Ilia II to the Mount Athos. The publication contains a lot of unique materials and the public will have an opportunity to familiarize themselves with these materials. Just this fact has aroused huge public interest,” Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze said.
“Athos – Spring of the Patriarch” describes the visit of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, the Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Metropolitan Bishop of Bichvinta and Tskhum-Abkhazia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II to the Mount Athos in 2004, where he also visited the Monasteries of Great Lavra and Xeropotamou. Ilia II was the first Georgian Patriarch who visited the Mount Athos and toured holy places among them the Iveron Monastery and the Iveron Theotokos (Eastern Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary). The book represents a collection of the ambassador’s memories and unique photo materials about the historical visit.
“Since the 10th century, not a single Georgian Patriarch had visited the Mount Athos. Ilia II was the first top-ranking cleric, who visited the holy places on the Mount Athos. The book provides brief information about this visit and contains photos taken by me, depicting the Patriarch’s visit to the Mount Athos. It also contains several very important photos, which have not been published anywhere. Among them are Tornike Eristavi’s chain mail and Ekvtime Mtatsmindeli’s Gospel stored in the Iveron Monastery. About 30 000 manuscripts, unique items belonging to Georgian cultural heritage are also stored in the monastery,” Zviad Chumburidze, author of the book, said.
Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli noted that “the book presentation was held at TSU not only because the author is the Executive Director of Georgian University Society, but also because this book is very important for our future generations, our students as it will make an important contribution to establishing supreme values and educating our students.”
The Mouth Athos takes a special place in Orthodox Christianity. The Iveron Monastery was the center of Georgian science and culture in the 10th-16th centuries. Just this center helped Georgia come closer to European values and culture. Noteworthy that the Iveron Monastery contains a unique repository storing hundreds of rarest manuscripts and other cultural heritage monuments. The book also contains the photos depicting Tornike Eristavi’s chain mail and Gospel manuscript by Ekvtime Mtatsmindeli. These unique relics are part of the national treasure stored in the Iveron repository.
The book aims to preserve the information about the Patriarch’s historical visit to the Mount Athos for future generations.
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