Mtatsminda Mountain and Saint David Church in Tbilisi

Mount Mtatsminda (or Mama Daviti) is located west of Tbilisi's center, a spur of the Trialeti Range, at an altitude of 770 meters above sea level. Mtatsminda is one of the city's most beautiful natural, historical, and cultural landmarks. Covered in pine forests, it proudly overlooks the capital. The difference in altitude between Mtatsminda and central Tbilisi is nearly 400 meters, making it a stunning landscape and a major recreational destination.

Mount Mtatsminda offers views of all of Tbilisi. Several observation platforms have been built for panoramic views of the city. From here, you can see the Caucasus Mountains, Mount Kazbek, the Saguramo-Ialno Range, the Iori Plateau, the Kyra River, and the Tbilisi Sea. There are several modes of transportation to reach Mtatsminda, the most popular being the funicular and cable car.

Mtatsminda currently houses the largest recreational park in Georgia. A television tower is also located here.

Mtatsminda towers over Tbilisi on its western side, reaching 727 meters above sea level and 330 meters above the Kura River embankment. In the center of the mountain, on one of its slopes, stands the Church of St. David and a pantheon of Georgian writers and public figures. The mountain's name, Mama Daviti, like the church, is associated with the work of one of the thirteen Syrian fathers, David Gareji. In the mid-6th century, he built a small chapel and cell here. During the Persian invasions, Zoroastrian adherents expelled Father David from the city. In the 9th century, the Church of the Iveron Mother of God was built here. For this reason, Mama Daviti received its second name, Mtatsminda (Holy Mountain). Over the years, the church has been damaged. In 1810, on the orders of Catholicos-Patriarch Anton II, the Kashveti cleric Thomas Grigoriev built the Church of the Transfiguration with donations from Tbilisi residents. In 1859, Thomas Grigoriev's son, Joseph, again with public financial support, began building a new, larger cathedral named after St. David of Gareji. Construction was not completed until 1877. The cathedral's walls were painted in 1889. The dimensions of today's cathedral are: height (including the cross) 25.7 meters, length 17.2 meters, width 10.7 meters.

In 1929, a pantheon of Georgian writers and public figures was established in the cathedral courtyard. Some of Georgia's greatest figures are buried there, including Ilia Chavchavadze, Akaki Tsereteli, Vazha Pshavela, Galaktion Tabidze, and the first president of Georgia, Zviad Gamsakhurdia. The pantheon also contains the remains of the renowned Russian writer and playwright Alexander Griboyedov and Joseph Stalin's mother.