At the end of June in 1990 I arrived in Georgia, then occupied by the Soviet Union. That summer the First Summer School of Kartvelian Studies of Tbilisi State University was held. One of my most memorable impressions was during the trip to Kaxeti (Eastern Georgia). Among the stops was the ancient monastery/academic complex at Iqalto.
From my travel journal [July 7]:
(additions to the texts are in [brakets])
“Then it was on to sites in the country: first was Iqalto where the famous academy had stood in the 11-12th centuries; famous rector Arsen and [most] famous student, [the writer of the Knight in the Panther’s Skin] Shota Rustaveli. Academy only remains now in stone wall ruins. Old chapel remains as does main church which had original structure in the 6th century. Church had been whitewashed inside at some time – but whether during Imperial Russian period, as guide claimed, is another matter. Church had gathered various icons & religious paintings and was not [supposed to have been] in operation; a priest showed up while we were there. Some burials in the churchyard, but more in cemetery outside the Academy walls. Church had a makeshift wooden iconostasis which belies Gk & Russian influence. Apparently Georgian churches did not so much have iconostases that were has [sic] big and hindering sight into sanctuary.”
Further memories from that afternoon:
It was a very warm day — most of July would be quite warm. There were some thin beeswax candles guttering in the humid air in the Church of the Transfiguration. They were stuck in in boxes of sand in front of the icons. Someone in our international group of students asked the Intourist (Foreign tourist) guide whether this was a working church and he said no. It was soon after that the church bells began to ring and the aforementioned cleric arrived with his service book to chant what was likely the Vigil for the Resurrection — a service including Vespers and Compile that is song in an Orthodox on Saturday evening. We may have witnessed the first service in the new era for this church.