On the slope of Mtatsminda Mountain there is a Pantheon of public and literary figures of Georgia, as well as the Temple of St. David. Mtatsminda Mountain means "Holy Mountain" in Georgian. The Church of St. David on the mountainside was built in the 19th century on the site of a cave where, according to legend, St. David of Gareja lived.
Saint David of Gareja is one of the venerated saints of the Georgian Orthodox Church. He lived in the 6th century and came to Georgia from Antioch. Saint David was one of the Thirteen Syrian Fathers who preached Christianity in Georgia and contributed to its spread.
There is a necropolis around the church, which is called the Pantheon. 48 famous public and literary figures of Georgia are buried here. In 1829, the famous Russian poet and diplomat Alexander Griboyedov was buried here. He was killed in Persia. He was buried not in the family Estate of Khmelita near Smolensk, but in Tbilisi, in the homeland of his wife. Alexander Griboyedov was married to Nina Chavchavadze, the daughter of a Georgian prince. She was buried next to her husband in 1857.
