Don Curry in a frenzy of frescoes

Don Curry woke up in the rain. Today started just like yesterday and was expected to have similar weather. The rain didn't really let up until evening, and the sun provided a reconciling end.

The Hotel Green Town offered its guests a breakfast buffet, which Don Curry appreciated very much. However, there was less variety than ever before on this trip, apart from the accommodations that didn't offer breakfast. Nevertheless, Don Curry found enough that he liked and even enjoyed a good cappuccino from the coffee machine.

Due to the weather, he ruthlessly cut down his daily program. The excursion to the Okatse Canyon, which was postponed yesterday, made little sense today, and strolling through Kutaissi's city center was anything but enjoyable in the pouring rain. So, only the monasteries remained, which he could drive to by car and were mainly visited from the inside. Rain could do the least harm here.

Both monasteries are relatively close to each other in the mountains northeast of Kutaissi. First, Don Curry drove to the Motsameta Monastery and wanted to park Xerra in the parking lot above the monastery. Then a man in a yellow safety vest knocked on Xerra's windows and made it clear that he was the parking attendant and for 5 Lari (€1.75) Don Curry could drive directly to the monastery. Don Curry considered it well worth it to avoid a 300-meter walk in the pouring rain, which on the way back he would have had to do steeply uphill. Motsameta is spectacularly located on a rocky promontory far above a bend in the river. Almost canyon-like, bare rock walls fall vertically downwards here. In the small monastery church, Don Curry was delighted with some frescoes, a magnificent iconostasis, and the decorated tomb of the martyr princes David and Konstantin, who are said to have been executed by Persian conquerors at this spot because they did not want to convert to Islam. While Don Curry was almost alone at this monastery, that was about to change drastically at his next destination.

The Gelati Monastery, which is visible from afar, is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Accordingly, Don Curry was eagerly looking forward to this visit. But it was to begin with a bitter disappointment: both monastery churches were mostly scaffolded, so the actually captivatingly photogenic monastery complex did not offer much anymore. Don Curry took pictures of the bell tower, the former refectory, an old gateway, and other buildings that had once been part of the famous Gelati Academy.

Then he entered the smaller of the two churches and once again froze. The completely painted churches of Svaneti had already deeply impressed him, but this church - even though it is smaller - had at least five times the dimensions. The sheer quantity of expressive frescoes in vibrant colors on all walls and columns of the church overwhelmed Don Curry. He had already seen numerous painted churches in Georgia and partly in Armenia, but none could compare to this one. Due to his greatly reduced daily program, Don Curry could take plenty of time to feast his eyes on the beauty and deeply regretted that there were no chairs or benches in Georgian churches.

What awaited him in the larger church? A rollercoaster of emotions! It is just as completely painted as the smaller one. 😊 However, it is currently fully scaffolded inside, up to the dome, so hardly anything of the wall paintings is visible. ☹️ But not only the actual church space was decorated with biblical scenes, all the anterooms and side chapels surpass themselves with frescoes from different periods. Don Curry reveled in all this splendor and made new discoveries in each of the ancillary rooms. He was almost glad that the main church was currently hiding its frescoes, otherwise it might have overwhelmed his synapses. Fresco overflow!

Intoxicated by so much magnificent art and messages of faith, Don Curry returned to Kutaissi. It was late lunchtime. What was he to do with the rest of the day? He briefly drove to the eccentric Parliament building on the outskirts of Kutaissi, which had only been used for 7 years when President Saakashvili arbitrarily chose Kutaissi as the seat of the Georgian Parliament. After losing power, the parliament seat returned to Tbilisi.

Very close by, Don Curry found a huge Carrefour supermarket, stocked up on drinks, and decided to have a completely non-Georgian meal. He ordered two burgers with fries to take away from the KFC located there for €7 and could have lunch and dinner in his hotel room. With the weather, he didn't want to step outside anymore.

When the sun finally came out late in the evening, Don Curry took it as a promise for the coming day. The rainy season should be over for now...