Garibashvili Visits the Holy Land

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili paid a trip to Jordan on May 28-29, to meet King Abdullah ll and visit the 4,000 square meters of land on the embankment of the Jordan River allotted by Amman to Georgia.

In the May 29 meeting, Prime Minister Garbiasvhili told King Abdullah ll that the land’s transfer made a good opportunity for Georgia and Jordan to discuss the future development of bilateral links.

Also, the Georgian PM and the King of Jordan discussed the security environment in the South Caucasus and the Middle East, the PM’s press service reported.

Also on May 29, the Georgian PM, alongside Archpriest Andria Jagmaidze, the Head of the Public Relations Department of the Georgian Orthodox Church, and Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan attended a ceremony for the transfer of land.”

“Today is a historic day,” PM Garibashvili said, adding “it must be a day all Georgians have been dreaming about, because we Georgians are returning to the Holy Land after 300 years of absence.”

He noted the Government, in cooperation with the Orthodox Patriarchate, would build a culture center on the site, as well as a place for baptism.

With the culture center, the PM told Imedi TV the Government “wants to represent our 20-century-long Christian culture, our tradition, our ancient Georgian culture, spirituality, and values.”

The Georgian Government Administration reported that the plot of land is located about 15-20 meters from the Christian holy sight of the Baptismal Site of Jesus Christ.

As part of the trip to Jordan, PM Garibashvili also met Jordan’s Orthodox Archbishop Christophoros Atallah and Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on the trip. After wrapping up the visit, the Georgian officials departed for Israel.

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