joerio (@joerio)

In 1227, Sultan Jalal al-Din of Khwarazm marched on Tbilisi at the head of an army of Turkmen. The Georgian army repelled the invaders on the first day of battle. That night, a group of Persians living inside the city secretly opened the gates and let the enemy in. What followed is recorded in Georgian Orthodox tradition as the worst day in the history of the nation. A river of blood ran through the city. Children were killed, women violated, and the streets filled with the dead. The Sultan ordered the dome of Sioni Cathedral torn down and his throne placed inside the cathedral. He had the icons of Christ and the Theotokos carried out and laid on the bridge over the Mtkvari River. Every Georgian was forced to cross. Those who spit on the icons were spared. Those who refused were beheaded. 100,000 Orthodox Christians chose death over apostasy. Their severed heads and bodies were carried down the Mtkvari by the current. The Eastern Orthodox Church commemorates them every year on October 31 as the 100,000 Holy Martyrs of Tbilisi. On the Old Calendar followed in Georgia the date is November 13. The Patriarch of Georgia leads an annual litany on the Metekhi Bridge in their memory. One hundred thousand stars now guard the Georgian Church. ☦️🇬🇪 #jesus #christianity #orthodox