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Lomisa
Mtsketa Mtianeti

Church of St. George of Lomisa (VIII-IX cc.) and a chapel are located on the watershed mountain of rivers Ksani and Aragvi. The construction is a simple three-church basilica. Around the cathedral there are extant ruins of verious buildings. In times of pagan worship Lomisa (the name is related to a bull whose cult was merged with the cult of moon – horns of a bull and half-moon) was allegedly a moon-worship temple. Afterwords a Christian church was built on the venue of a heathen temple. Lomisa was the main place of worship for the population of mountain area and Ksani gorge. Gatherings of the Council of Elders decided here political and legal issues.

The holiday of Lomisa is held on the seventh week after Easter. This day worshippers from the whole of east Georgia gather at the hamlet of Mleta. Archpriests carry out a banner and accompanied by singing Perkhisa take it up the mountain where celebration with sacrifice takes place. St. George of Lomisa was recoursed to when child was born, or light of day, or welcom to a harvest were celebrated. In the name of Lomisa they worship the siperior cross attached to a wooden flagpole with balls fastened to its four ends (solar symbol). According to the legend, Lomisa was a warrior, he sat on a scarlet horse with a whip in his hand that helped him to sear evil. The cult of Lomisa seems to have already been dispersed in Georgia back in the Bronse Age. In Christian era it was linked with St. George.

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