RABATI theme park is not real-->The modern mosque near Akhaltsikhe [Rabati] in the Republic of Georgia is a faux tourist theme park -- the real old small stone mosque is a 15 minute walk towards a nearby small village
ORIGINAL RABATI FORTRESS?
The real RABATI ancient mosque in Akhaltsikhe in the Republic of Georgia is shown below, [Akhaltsikhe is very near the Armenian/Turkish border], and you WILL NOT FIND the real old small mosque in the faux tourist theme park built by Vano Merabishvili & Mikhael Saakashvili just a few years ago [their inauthentic concrete and plastic theme park is shown above, along with characters from Walt Disney that suit it very well !]
The real deal small stone mosque in the region less than a 15 minute walk away from the theme park venue. The Rabati Theme Park Complex is where many tour buses will take you swiftly from Tbilisi or Borjomi to eat at the expensive but not very good restaurant in the FORTRESS fantasy theme park. Better to drive yourself to the parking lot [the same parking lot that was used for the Russian military hospital that was just a few years ago standing on the same parcel of land as the current RABATI FORTRESS THEME PARK]. Better than wasting your money at the theme park "swank" restaurant, take your own bag lunch with you, or buy your food from the nearby local villages, however, go ahead and use the Rabati Theme Park giant parking lot for your car or minibus for free parking in the area. Then walk the 12-15 minutes towards the trees you can see in the near distance [photos show the correct trees below], and discover the real old Rabati mosque, from ancient times. It resembles in many many ways the same style old small mosques that are plentiful in Kyrgyztan. The path from near the former old Russian military hospital parking lot [the Russians took back this region from the Ottoman Empire in 1826] is surrounded by short trees and grass and weeds, and it lies on the fringe of a very little village close to the parking lot. If you like history and not plastic fantasy, this is the real deal, and not a sham like the theme park. Be informed that the Turkish authorities have not given the huge & behemoth fake mosque in the Fortress Theme Park the designation of a functioning mosque. It is still officially declared a "non-functioning" mosque.
If you go online and read TripAdvisor postings and reviews and comments from the many German tourists who have visited Rabati Fortress Theme Park, you will find many Germans who were quite disappointed by the artificial tourism compound, some even irate and angry over having been tricked and deceived by such a cheap trick, and they are writing in their reviews on TripAdvisor that the theme park fortress has about as much authentic history as McDonald's theme mini-parks spread everywhere around the world. Of special interest to several German experts, was that fanning a part of the exteriour walls of the Theme Park mosque, there are many Christian crosses embellishing the stone steles which have been engraved in the fresh new stone MOSQUE "restorations". The new Georgian government that took office after the scandals of the Vano Merabishvili & Mikhael Saakashvili by-gone era are currently negotiating with the Turks to reach a convivial and agreeable mutual understanding.
Look for these trees and three domes in the distance from the old Russian Hospital parking lot, which is now the Disney Rabati parking area
BLOW UP PHOTO of the three ancient domes of the truly historic mosque
a medium view of the three original mosque domes!
one of the easy paths going slightly uphill from the theme park PARKING LOT, towards the authentic old stone mosque ruins
if you see this than you are on the right path and nearly at the old stone mosque
Two friendly local villagers just ten minutes away by foot from the specious Rabati Fortress "Ahmadiyya" mosque, who know fully well that the only authentic old stone mosque in their region adjoins many of their small village neighbors property
authentic old stone mosque ruins
authentic old stone mosque ruins
click here for
“NEW KIDNEY, NEW LIFE” – Doctor-Patient Trust Brings Joy to Many, By Bryan Adrian for 'Georgia Today'
authentic old stone mosque ruins
authentic old stone mosque ruins
authentic old stone mosque ruins
Not so far away from this historic small ancient Muslim mosque near the Rabati Castle Theme Park, is the town of Bagdati, which has a run down but still beautiful very large abandoned winery, and it needs investors to help the many grape farmers and western Georgian wine makers, who have not been funded since the Russians left Georgia ... read here for details