Tbilisi - in Avlabari part 2

This time we start with a reggae classic to chase the devil out of earth: Max Romeo - Chase The Devil

Walking along the cliff to the Metekhi church leads you through the oldest part of Avlabri. I was a bit shocked what I saw there. It is incredible that people have to live in such ruins! One problem might be that at least in the past Georgians didn't like Armenians very much. I heard that statements like "They should know that they are only guests here." were common in soviet times. I therefore investigated a bit and was astounded that in soviet times the different soviet republic (SSR) did not like each other very much. People from another SSR could not get high positions in companies or the administration. Houses and cultural buildings from other nations did not receive money etc. This was not the only time I stumbled over this issue. The result are for example that there is now only one old Armenian church in Tbilisi (as far as I know) of formerly more than 20. The other existing ones are close to collapse or in ruins. Here is a short and good film about this topic. (In the meantime the Saint Gevork of Mughni church and the Church of the Holy Seal are under reconstruction.)
It is good to hear that the Georgians now accept all their cultural heritage. It is nevertheless sad to hear that there are disputes which church owns a church, the Georgian Orthodox or the Armenian Apostolic.

I think in the Solomon Brdzeni street.
You can see that the houses once collapsed and were covered
with provisional roofs to be able to live in the ruins.

Yes, people live there.

 

The ruin of the Church of the Red Gospel.

Dito.

A building in the Metekhi street.
Note the crack in its wall.

In the Isani street.
 

A tip: Go to the Periszwaleba Monastery. This is a nice oasis with small garden from where you have a great view over the inner city.

In the monastery.

The house of the nuns.

Finally it was time to go to the Ejmiatsin Church:

The Armenian Ejmiatsin church in front and the
Georgian Sameba cathedral in the back. For an average tourist
the look very similar

While there are no seats in Georgian churches
the Armenian churches have them.
 

This house right beside the Ejmiatsin church
looked so beautiful from the other side.

From this small church you also have a nice view:

The courtyard of the church.
In the entrance building are some...

...colorful icons. In the church was a church service - with only men.

View up to this unknown church.

View down the Metekhi ascent.

The statue of Statue of King Vakhtang.

One of my favorite vies in Tbilisi from the Metekhi church.

The Metekhi church. There was a church service going on - this time only with woman.

All in all Avlabari is for me the most interesting quarter of Tbilisi. There are many things to discover, special buildings, great views and many secrets about history.