More Scenes from Life in the Republic of Georgia

A few more experiences from life in Samskhe Javakheti

Zarzma. Image courtesy of beyondarts.at

Zarzma Monastery

We shuffled into the chapel standing next to the main church undergoing extensive renovation work—still recovering from damage wrought by invaders over different centuries. Clouds covered the sky on this cold winter morning.

Zarzma church and monastery are built atop a hill overlooking forested mountains on either side of a deep river valley. Like many ancient sites, Zarzma began construction over a millennium ago, in the 8th century. Similar to many of the local histories of churches and monasteries, Zarzma was invaded, sacked, destroyed, and rebuilt a number of times over its long life. Scaffolding fills the main church nave where old icons covering the walls rest patiently beneath a film of smoke char, and the lower ends of pillars bear scratch carvings of graffiti written in Russian—all awaiting restoration.

Irma, Tyler, Thomas, and myself entered the chapel next door for Sunday liturgy. We had joined several monks and other locals slightly later into the two hour service. After liturgy, we spent time in the main church lighting candles and praying before the many icons set out in spite of the interior disrepair. While the scaffolding prevented services from being conducted, prayer was still encouraged, keeping the church alive even under a slow reconstruction process.

I decided to wait outside for the others after making the rounds in the church, but Irma beckoned me back in once the other worshippers had left. She then brought us into a room to the right of the sanctuary (where the altar rests) that I had assumed was for storage. We entered a low doorway only to be met with a casket that had looked like a bench from outside. Through the glass top, the remains of a person lay with vestments over his head and his original garments covering his body. Hands and feet were exposed, revealing mummified remains.

He is called the Unknown Saint. After construction digging had commenced in the area (time period unknown to me), a chamber was discovered in which a man’s body lay on a stone slab. From when and who this person was, no one knows. His body was incorrupt, meaning decay had not really begun yet—a common feature of saints’ bodies long after death. Once the body was removed from the stone slab, it began to decay. Parts of the stone slab were hung in a mosaic on the wall above the Unknown Saint inside the church. We said a few prayers, honored the body in the glass coffin, and left for another part of the church grounds.