Saint Grigol Peradze, Diaries

Saint Grigol Peradze undertook a series of scientific trips. In 1935, he visited Romania, Greece (Thessalonica and Mount Athos) and Bulgaria. At Athos, he managed to retrieve Georgian books and manuscripts including the Apophtegmata Patrum, the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and apocryphal lives of the saints. In addition, he found the Greek versions of the martyrdom of the martyrs of Vilnius: Anthony, John and Eustace. In the NationalLibrary in Sofia he came across the Georgian text of the Typikon by the great Western domesticus George Bakuriani. In 1936, Peradze travelled to the Holy Land and Syria. He brought back Georgian palimpsests written in the sixth and seventh centuries. In Paris, Grigol Peradze made contact with Georgian community and settled there permanently. He participated in the organization of the Parish and was later appointed its first Pastor. This volume contains diaries, as well as a work by Grigol Peradze relating to the history of Georgian monasticism and monasteries in Palestine. Saint Grigol Peradze’s Diaries raise a number of issues concerning the history of Christianity and early Christian literature. They are a great source of knowledge for those interested in Georgian history and culture.