The oldest Georgian cities. Mtskheta is an ancient capital.
Now Mtskheta, once a strategically important city of Georgia, is a museum city. In the city and in the surrounding area you will find almost three hundred monuments of cultural heritage that you definitely need to see with your own eyes. Archaeological excavations near the city have discovered burials that date back to the late Bronze Age.
During the excavations of the tombs of the Armaz Eristavs, a large limestone tombstone was discovered, on which an inscription was inscribed in Greek and Aramaic. The Aramaic part of this bilingua (bilingualism) is translated as follows: "I, Seraphita, am the daughter of Zebah, the youngest pityakhsh of King Farsman, the wife of Yodmangan, the victorious (military commander) and the many victories of the ruler of the household of King Hsefarnug, the son of Agrippa, the ruler of the household of King Farsman. Woe to you, who were young.
And so good and beautiful that no one was like her in beauty. And she died at the age of 21 (of life)." This find, known as the "Armaz Bilingua" is kept in the Simon Janashia State Museum.
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Near the mouth of rivers Chickens and Aragvi in a picturesque place, between the ridges of Saguramo, Shaltbi, Satskepela is the oldest capital of the Kartalinsky kingdom - Mtskheta. For many centuries Mtskheta has been a transport hub where the roads of Georgia, Armenia, Albania and the North Caucasus intersected.
Currently Mtskheta It is a museum city. There are about 270 monuments of cultural heritage in the city and its surroundings. In 2009, this ancient city was included in the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage List.
In the VIII century BC, Meskhetian (Moskhi, Mukhshi) tribes settled here, and the name "Mtskheta", according to some assumptions, goes back to the name of these tribes. Armaziskhevi is one of the districts of the old city, where the residence of the Eristavs (pitiakhshis, rulers) was located.
In the IV century BC. e. here, on Kartalinskaya Mountain, King Parnavaz erected an Armaz fortress, here he built a statue of the pagan deity Armazi and named the mountain in his honor. The construction of the Armaz fortress was continued by representatives of the Parnavaz dynasty. Since the II century AD, the Armazi fortress has been the acropolis of Mtskheta. The slope was completely covered with various buildings, of which little has survived to our time.
Archaeological work on the study of the Armaz fortress began at the end of the nineteenth century on the initiative of Ilya Chavchavadze and Ekvtime Takaishvili. In 1943-1948, the archaeological excavations on the territory of the fortress were led by Simon Janashia and Andria Apakidze. As a result of the excavations, burials belonging to the late Bronze and early Iron Age, the late antique and feudal era were discovered, as well as the ruins of the palace complex of baths, religious buildings, plumbing, a ceramic isotonium workshop, a wine cellar, etc.
Learn more about the historical sights and ancient cities of Georgia on the pages of the Madloba catalog. Here you will find interesting articles and entertaining facts about the life and culture of the Georgian people, stories of local residents and avid travelers.
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