TravelswithCharie

Georgia-Russia Friendship Monument This colorful stone and tile monument was built in 1983 to commemorate the bicentennial anniversary of the Treaty of Georgievsk signed in 1783 between the Russian Empire and the Kartli-Kakheti Kingdom of eastern Georgia. Under this treaty, the kingdom became a protectorate of Russia while maintaining territorial boundaries and the recognition of its reigning Bagrationi dynasty. In return, the Georgian kingdom had to swear allegiance to Russia and to support it in times of war.  Reality Check The Friendship Monument is a popular destination and there were a lot of visitors during my visit in May. It was impossible to get good pictures with the overwhelming number of tourists blocking the scenery. I’ve had to erase some people from the photo above to have a better appreciation of this monument. This cylindrical monument was designed by Zurab Tsereteli (the sculptor and designer of the Chronicle of Georgia*) and the architect of the project was Georg...

Nave of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme (Holy Cross in Jerusalem) We had an extra day in Rome and decided to see one of the seven pilgrim churches. Santa Croce was our fourth pilgrim church after we visited Santa Maria Maggiore, St. John Lateran, and St. Peter’s. We chose Santa Croce for the simple reason that it was not too far from our hotel. The other three which we sadly missed were St. Paul Outside the Walls, St. Lawrence Outside the Walls and St. Sebastian Outside the Walls. Main Altar Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is so called because when St. Helena came back to Rome after her trip to Jerusalem, she brought with her some soil from Mount Calvary where Jesus was crucified. This soil was spread under Santa Croce when she was building a chapel to house the Holy Relics, hence “in Gerusalemme”. St. Helena is the  mother of Emperor Constantine (306-337) who was the first Roman emperor to embrace Christianity. He issued the Edict of Milan which granted his people the right to practice thei...