In the heart of the Caucasus lies legendary Mount Mqinvari. Concealed within the mountain’s upper slopes is the Bethlehem Cave—an ancient hermitage, said to be the depository of the manger of Christ. Long thought to be only a legend, the cave was rediscovered in the mid-twentieth century by Georgia’s greatest female mountain climber.

    In the year 2000 a group of mountaineers in the company of Archbishop Nikoloz of the Georgian Orthodox Church set out on an expedition to the legendary cave. With the purpose of reconsecrating the ancient stone altar, the mountaineers climbed to the tiny cave, where Archbishop Nikoloz served the All-night Vigil and the Divine Liturgy.

    Filmed in July and August of 2000, the film chronicles the history of the Bethlehem Cave and the traditions surrounding it. At the center of the film is the expedition across glaciers and up sheer mountain walls to the ancient cave.

    Set against a sound track of newly recorded sacred and traditional Georgian music, the footage includes interviews, magnificent scenes of Georgia, and the Divine Liturgy in the Bethlehem Cave.

28 minutes color

NTSC

ISBN: 1-887904-12-3