Place of Burial of St. Shushanik

Abstract

The issues concerning Saint Shushanik’s preparation for death, determining the location where she should be buried, and description of the process of her death/punishment take an important place in the structure of the text. Saint Shushanik’s grave, according to her will, is in Tsurtavi, the very place where Varsken dragged her from for the first time. This is Iakob Khutsesi’s statement and we come across the same information in all lists except A 95, which is not complete and where the last third part of the story is missed. As a matter of fact, there is some other information. According to some sources, Shushanik was reburied to Tsurtavi after the death of Varsken, while according to other sources, the tortured queen was reburied from Turtavi to Tbilisi and was buried in Metekhi Church. In our research, we observe all information concerning the location of Saint Shushanik’s grave and discuss how realistic the information can be.