TWENTIETH DAY. THE FASCINATING BERTA MONASTERY.

It’s a pity that the sky is cloudy, because the meadows all around us are blooming. Although there isn’t much traffic on the road, you can’t relax even for a moment because there are some crazy drivers.

On the roadside, we treat ourselves to some strawberries and the first sweet cherries. The temperature is getting lower which means we are going up in the mountains. There are some blooming lilacs in the backyards of the mountain villages. We can’t spend the night in tents because there are some scary clouds of rain in the sky. At six p.m., we roll into a squalid town called Tsalka. There, we find the only establishment with the proud name ‘Hotel’, where you can spend the night. The building is probably from the Stalin era and it looks like it was last cleaned when it first opened. There is trash everywhere. The village is mostly populated by Armenians and Greeks, there aren’t many Georgians here. The archaic TV has hundreds of channels but none of them broadcasts Champion league finals. 

We wake up early and the sun greets us again, so we do some filming. Yesterday, while communicating with some folks, we found out about a nearby village called Berta that has a monastery worth seeing. They tell us an interesting and unbelievable story about a spring in the territory of the monastery that supposedly has trout. The trout have their own hierarchy- they are ruled by the trout king and the trout queen. There is no information about this whatsoever on the internet in English or Russian. The monastery isn’t easy to find, but we still manage to do it.

A smiling Georgian, Nico, greets us at the gate. He’s been here for a while and helps the six monks that live here in their everyday chores. The oldest monk, father Nicholas, is a childhood friend of his and, unlike Nico, chose to go God’s way early in his life. All six monks are the so called black monks, they can’t have a family and many relations with the outside world. Father Nicholas joins the conversation and shows interest in our journey. He invites us to explore the monastery which was built in the 6th century and to rest and spend the night in the monastery.

The weirdest thing is, the story about the trout is true. The trout have lived here since ancient times and receive special care. A stone basin has been made for the trout in a place where the spring runs out from under the monastery. The spring has a natural canal and the fish are free to swim elsewhere but for some mysterious reason they choose to stay. Approximately 30 trout hide underneath the sides and show up only when Nico throws in some boiled eggs as food for them. They only eat boiled eggs. The monks all confidently confirm that the trout really have a monarchy. They choose their king and queen and these two usually spend their days further away from the other fish, closer to where the spring comes out under the building. The king and queen also have names. They are called Vasily and Vasilissa. For now, only Vasilissa holds the throne, because the king died a couple of years ago. When the queen will die, the trout will choose the next rulers. And so it has been for centuries. 

True story: in Soviet times, when the monastery wasn’t actively used, an Armenian family decided to get some of the trout out to make soup. The next morning, they were found dead from poisoning. At least one more case like this is known.

Father Ilarion tells us, that in year 2008, in the Red Friday, a suicide of one trout was observed. The fish swam quickly around the basin and crashed herself in the rocks until it died. A few months later, the Russian-Georgian war began.

The monks have tried to introduce other, foreign trout in the basin, but the special trout didn’t accept them. 

The monks urge us to get consecrated in the cold water of the spring, where the temperature doesn’t change throughout seasons. We happily accept the offer and all three of us go through with it. Igumen Nicholas, the boss to the other monks, films the procedure with his phone.

After breakfast we are invited on a tour to the prayer cells which are carved in rock 10 km from the monastery. This has been a place for meditation for many generations of monks. Later in the day, we have lunch together with all of the monastery’s inhabitants and they tell us stories of their austere lives. 

Father Nicholas is dying to ride a motorcycle and we are happy to provide the opportunity. Everyone is slightly worried, because the last time Father rode a moped was in his early years, but everything ends well, only a sound fall in first gear, when turning the ride around on the bumpy road.

Later, we sing together in Georgian and in Latvian until morning light.

A heartfelt thank you to the monks of Berta monastery: Igumen Nicholas, Father Ilarion, Father Matvei, Father Juan, deacon Tom, and their helpers David and Nico for the incredibly kind reception and all the wonderful stories!