Cathedrals of Tbilisi. Sioni Cathedral Sioni Cathedral in the old town of Tbilisi

Address: Tbilisi, st. Sioni, 6

Sioni Church, Tbilisi, Georgia

In ancient times, there was a tradition in Georgia to name temples after the holy places of Jerusalem. One of these temples is the Sioni Cathedral, repeating the name of the symbol of Jerusalem - the sacred Mount Zion. Before construction (2004), Sioni was the patriarchal cathedral and was considered the main temple of Tbilisi and Georgia.

History of the temple

The first temple on the site of today's Zion Cathedral was founded in the 6th century. According to one version, the temple was founded by the then king of Iberia -. According to another version, the cathedral was built by order of the Byzantine nobleman Guram I.

But the built temple did not last long - after a few centuries it was completely destroyed by the Arabs. At that time, an Islamic state was formed on the territory of Eastern Georgia with its capital in Tiflis. It existed until 1122, when the territory was liberated by the famous Georgian ruler David IV the Builder.

Having liberated Tbilisi, David IV the Builder first ordered the restoration of the cathedral. But it could not be restored, so a new temple was built in its place.

The sad history of the cathedral did not end there - in 1226 it was destroyed by Jalal ad-Din Menguberdi, in 1236 by the Khorezmians, in 1522 by Shah Ishmael.

In 1668 there was an earthquake, which also severely damaged the cathedral. And in 1795, the temple was severely damaged by the invasion of Agha Mohammed Khan, during which ancient frescoes and iconostasis were destroyed.

After all the events, the cathedral was restored in 1817.

In 1980-1983, the temple was restored, during which it was returned to its original medieval appearance.

Zion Cathedral today

Today Sioni Cathedral is a small, modest, but very soulful temple. Its austere facades are decorated with bas-reliefs depicting a cross and saints. The ancient frescoes inside the temple were not preserved, so the Russian artist Gagarin was invited to paint new ones. His works are located inside above the entrance to the temple.

On the territory of the cathedral there are two bell towers - an ancient three-tiered building from the 15th century and an example of Russian classicism architecture from the early 19th century.

The most important value of the temple is the cross of St. Nino, which, according to legend, was given to her by the Mother of God before sending her to Georgia. This vine cross is woven with Nino's hair, and on its stone frame is engraved the inscription: "Honorable Cross, have mercy on us." It is kept near the northern gate of the altar in an icon case, on the top cover of which there are chased paintings with events from the life of St. Nino.

The temple is also famous for the fact that Alexander Griboyedov and Nino Chavchavadze were solemnly married here. But this marriage had a very tragic fate.

During the wedding, Griboyedov dropped his wedding ring - this was considered a bad sign. Almost immediately after the marriage, Griboyedov was forced to go to Persia for service, leaving 16-year-old pregnant Nino Chavchavadze at home. A few months later, Griboyedov was killed. Having learned about this terrible event, Nino had a premature birth and the child died.

For the rest of her life she mourned for her husband and remained faithful to him. At Griboyedov’s grave, at the request of his wife, a tombstone was installed with the inscription: “ Your mind and deeds are immortal in Russian memory, but why did my love survive you?«.

How to get there

Sioni Cathedral is located on the street of the same name. The domes of the temple rise above Old Tbilisi, so finding it will not be difficult. GPS coordinates: 41.691344, 44.807503.

To get to the cathedral, you need to take one of these buses - 31, 44, 50, 55, 71, 80, 102 and get off at the Sioni Temple stop.

Located next to the Sioni Cathedral. Also read about, and.

Do you want to come here? The Viva-Georgia team will organize an excursion or tour for you, create the optimal travel route and provide any other assistance during the trip.

Right on the banks of the Kura River rises the main temple of Tbilisi - Sioni Cathedral, consecrated in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Until 2004, when the new cathedral was built, the see of the Georgian Catholicos was located in Sioni.

Myths and facts

The cathedral is named after the sacred Mount Zion in Jerusalem, which the biblical prophets envisioned as the seat of God and the highest revelation of His glory. In addition to the cathedral in Tbilisi, there are others named Sioni, and all of them are dedicated to the Mother of God.

The first Tbilisi Sioni was founded at the end of the 6th century. But after the Arab invasion it was destroyed. The new cathedral was rebuilt in 1112 after the liberation of Tbilisi.

In subsequent years, Sioni Cathedral was destroyed more than once by wars and earthquakes, but each time it was completely restored. During the major reconstruction in the second half of the 19th century, the western facade was lined, damaged frescoes were restored, and the dome of the temple was painted. The last restoration of Sioni was carried out in 1978.

What to see

Sioni Cathedral is a typical example of Georgian architecture of the mature Middle Ages. Both outside and inside you can trace several building layers belonging to different eras.

The interiors of the cathedral are decorated with frescoes by the Russian artist G.G. Gagarin. But the main attraction of Zion is the ancient cross of St. Nina, which, according to legend, was given to her by the Most Holy Theotokos before sending her to Georgia.

Not far from the main building there are two bell towers: one ancient, three-tiered, was built in the 15th century and restored in the 20th century after destruction by the Persians, the second dates back to the 19th century and is an example of Russian classicism.

Tbilisi is also home to the largest cathedral in Georgia - another

Sioni Cathedral is historically the main temple of Tbilisi and one of the two main ones in the Georgian Church, located in the Old Town, on the right bank of the Kura River.

The temple is lit in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary, that is, dedicated to the memory of the death of the Mother of God. This event took place in Jerusalem, in the house of Mary on Mount Zion, where the Assumption Church was later built. In Georgia, it was customary not to separate these two names and to call all Assumption churches Zion.

Currently, Sioni Cathedral attracts tourists not only as a remarkable architectural structure of the capital of Georgia, but also as a storage place for such an important relic as the ancient cross of St. Nino, which brought Christianity to the country. On the territory of the church there is also a holy spring from which anyone can draw water.

Stories from the lives of many famous people are connected with the Zion Cathedral: for example, Alexander Griboedov married Nino Chavchavadze here.

History of Sioni Cathedral

According to historians, the first temple on the site of the Sioni Cathedral appeared in the 6th century. Some experts believe that this happened on the initiative of Vakhtang I Gorgasal, the king of Iberia, and the other part - that it was on the orders of the Byzantine nobleman Guram I. The structure stood until the 8th century, in which it was demolished by the Arabs after the formation of the Tbilisi Emirate.

Only almost four centuries later, in 1112, the temple was restored by the famous Georgian ruler David IV the Builder, who liberated Tbilisi from the Arabs and united the Georgian principalities into a single centralized state.

In subsequent centuries, the cathedral was also destroyed several times (in 1226 it was destroyed by Jalal ad-Din Menguberdi, in 1236 by the Khorezmians, in 1522 by Shah Ishmael, and in 1668 by an earthquake), but was always restored.

In 1726, the Kingdom of Kartli was occupied by the Ottoman Turks, who decided to turn the Zion Cathedral into an Islamic mosque. However, thanks to the efforts of Prince Givi Amilakhvari, a major political figure in Eastern Georgia, the temple remained Orthodox.

At the end of the 18th century, in 1795, during the Persian invasion under the leadership of Agha Mohammed Khan, the cathedral was set on fire, a significant part of the interior decoration, including ancient frescoes and the iconostasis, was badly damaged, the other part was completely destroyed. However, the temple was soon restored again, and in 1817, Minai de Medici wrote that “it is vast and magnificent, painted inside with pictures from the Bible.”

During the years of Soviet power, attempts were made to destroy this monument of Orthodox architecture, but they were unsuccessful. In the 1980s, the temple was returned to its status, reconstruction was carried out, after which the building took on its original medieval appearance.

Some kings are buried in the Sioni Cathedral - Guram and Ardanas, hierarchs of the Georgian Church, in particular Catholicos-Patriarchs Kirion II (canonized in 2002), David V (Devdariani) and some historical figures, in particular P. Tsitsianov, General Lazarevich, representatives of the Orbeliani house.

Until 2004 (the construction of the Holy Trinity Cathedral - Tsminda Sameba) this ancient temple was the main one in Georgia, it was a cathedral, the rector of which was the Patriarch-Catholicos himself, the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Exterior and interior decoration

By design, the Sioni Temple is a typical cathedral of the Georgian “golden age”: domed, with two supporting columns and two chapels from the north and south.

Externally, the cathedral looks quite simple and modest; no carvings or decorations characteristic of Georgian churches XII-XIII have been preserved, since in 1710 it was lined with Bolnisi tuff. The strict facades of the cathedral are slightly softened by the warm color of the facing stone. The windows of the temple are high and narrow, somewhat reminiscent of fortress loopholes.

The painting on the interior walls of the temple (except for the western wall) dates back to 1850-1860 (restored after arson in 1795). The Russian artist Grigory Gagarin was invited to implement it, therefore, despite the efforts of the artist, the painting style turned out to be more Russian than Georgian (all inscriptions were also made in Russian).

During the restoration of the early 1980s, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II commissioned local artist Levan Tsutskiridze to paint the western wall of the Sioni Cathedral. The new paintings received a modern and gloomy tone, which also contributed to the heterogeneity of the style of the temple.

Two chapels of the Zion Cathedral were painted quite recently, this time in accordance with all church norms. In the northern aisle, scenes of the “descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles” and the construction of Svetitskhoveli were added, in the southern aisle images of the archangels Michael and Gabriel and some other paintings appeared.

Today there is no iconostasis in the church; instead, an altar partition, typical of Georgian churches, has been installed.

In addition to the building of the cathedral itself, there are two bell towers on its territory - one is an ancient three-tiered one, built in the 15th century, later destroyed by the Persians and restored in the 20th century, the other, built in 1812, is a typical example of the architecture of Russian classicism.

Temple shrines

The main sacred relic not only of the Sioni Cathedral, but of the entire country is the cross of St. Nino, the enlightener and baptist of Georgia. Made from grapevine and entwined with the hair of a girl, the cross is encased in a silver frame and kept on the left side of the central iconostasis. On the stone frame of the shrine is engraved the inscription: “Honorable Cross, have mercy on us.” You can touch the shrine on January 27 and June 1, when it is placed in the center of the temple for the worship of believers; the rest of the time this can only be done through glass.

Other important relics of the temple are the head of the Apostle Thomas, one of the disciples of Jesus Christ, which after the fall of Constantinople was transferred to Georgia to the Sioni Cathedral, and the Iveron miraculous icon of the Mother of God, the face of which miraculously left an imprint on the glass of the icon case.

Sioni Temple in Tbilisi, Georgia - panorama on Google Maps

How to get to Zion Cathedral in Tbilisi

The temple is located in the historical Old Town district and is clearly visible from any observation deck. You can get to it on foot along Sioni Street, located between the larger streets of Kote Abkhazi and Zviad Gamsakhurdia.

From public transport, buses No. 31, 44, 50, 55, 71, 80, 102 stop in the immediate vicinity of the cathedral. The stop is called “Sioni Church” and is located on Zviad Gamsakhurdia Street.

Those who plan to get to the cathedral by car can also focus on Zviad Gamsakhurdia Street, which runs along the banks of the Kura River for a significant part of the city.

GPS coordinates of Zion Cathedral: 41.691344, 44.807615.

Another way to get to the temple is to take a taxi. You can order a car in Tbilisi using one of the mobile applications, for example, Yandex. Taxi, Maxim, Taxify.

Video about Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi

Of all the ancient temples of Tiflis that have survived to this day, the most attention should be paid to the Zion Cathedral. Here it is affectionately called Sioni, it is located in a picturesque place, on the banks of the Kura River. His project was developed back in the 5th century by Vakhtang Gurgaslan, but he did not implement the plan. Only a century later, King Guram resumes the construction of two temples at once - Metekhi and Sioni.

Silent Witness

No one has any doubts that the temple was destroyed as many times as long-suffering Tbilisi. In the 8th century, Sultan Jalal ed-Din ordered the dome to be removed and rode on a specially constructed stage to the top of the temple in order to enjoy the picture of the torment of the inhabitants of the captured city.

This beautiful landmark of Georgia, in its appearance, almost completely replicates other ancient temples, such as Martvili, Kutaisi and others. The buildings of all temples stand on cruciform foundations in the form of octagonal towers with pyramidal roofs, also having eight corners.

Externally, the Zion Temple is rather modest, nondescript, decorated with high reliefs of crosses, animals and trees, just like all the other Armenian and Georgian churches in the city. The interior of the church is extremely similar to the decoration of Byzantine-Russian churches, like St. Sophia in Kyiv or Assumption in Moscow.

All the interior walls are covered with colorful paintings in gold, depicting rough figures of angels and saints. You get the feeling that you are in one of the churches of Russia.

Through fire and water

Today, the spiritual landmark of Tbilisi has the status of the Cathedral, and it is also the residence of the Catholicos - the Patriarch of the Georgian Christian Church. Within its walls is kept the most important shrine of all Georgia - the cross of St. Nino, which established Christianity in the Georgian lands. The cross was made from vines and was fastened, as legend has it, with Nino's own hair.

After a major restoration, which was carried out from 1980 to 1983, the temple, despite the complexity of its construction history, retained its medieval appearance. Not far from the temple building there are two bell towers - one is ancient, three-tiered and dates back to the 15th century. Destroyed by the Persians, it was restored in the 20th century, and the second, erected in 1812, is a striking example of Russian classicism.

Which until 2006 was a cathedral and, as it were, the main temple of the country. It is named Zion in honor of the Assumption Church on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, and is also the Assumption Cathedral, like all Zion Cathedrals in Georgia. In Georgia it is called simply. Now it is interesting not only as an architectural structure, but also as a storage place for several relics - for example, here you can see the cross of St. Nino.

Name

The temple is consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In modern language, it is dedicated to her death. This event itself took place in Jerusalem, in the house of Mary on Mount Zion. The first Assumption Church appeared on this site in 415. It became Uspensky in essence and Zionsky in location. Muslims destroyed it several times, and at the beginning of the 12th century the Crusaders restored it and this is how the temple appeared Sancta Maria in Monte Sion. In 1187, the Muslims destroyed it again.

At some point in Georgia they decided that accidents were not accidental and began to call all the Assumption churches Zion. And so it went. The strange thing is that the Tbilisi Zion Cathedral was built almost simultaneously with the restoration of the Jerusalem temple by the crusaders. That Jerusalem temple has reached our time in the 1910 version.

Story

The first temple on this site began to be built at the end of the 6th century. Around the 20s of the 7th century, shortly before the Arab invasion, construction was completed. We don't know what the temple was like at that time. It is contemporary with the temple of Jvari and the Aten Zion, so it could have been similar to them. Until the 20th century, it stood almost on the very edge of the rocky river bank.

The cathedral was destroyed several times - the Arabs were the first to do it. For approximately 400 years, throughout the era of the Tbilisi Emrat, the temple stood in ruins. But then something mysterious happened. In any book you will read that in 1112 David the Builder restored this temple. However, Tbilisi came under David's rule only in 1122, 10 years later. In 1112, Tbilisi was still the capital of the emirate. And so it turns out that in a formally Muslim city, for an unknown reason, a temple was restored, and it was built very large. How could this happen? Either Muslims in those years already allowed the construction of Christian churches, or there were very few Muslims in Tbilisi, or... It is unknown. Private funds would not be enough for such a construction, and the funds of the emirate would not be enough either. How the Georgian state could build such a temple on formally hostile territory is also a mystery.

Then it was destroyed by the Khorezmians in 1236, Shah Izmail in 1522, and Shah Abbas in the 17th century, and the earthquake of 1668.

In 1657, Metropolitan Elise added a vestibule to the church on the south side. In 1710, the cathedral was lined with Bolnisi tuff and took on the appearance it has today.

In those years, the cathedral was used for ceremonial protocol events. For example, the royal orders were read out here. In this cathedral, on January 25, 1784, Tsar Irakli II signed the ratification document, thereby completing the ceremony of signing the Treaty of Georgievsk. A solemn liturgy was held here on this occasion.

In September 1795, the cathedral was severely burned down during the invasion of Agha Muhammad Khan. They say that “the Georgian metropolitan locked himself with the clergy in the Zion Cathedral, but the Persians, breaking into the temple, burned the iconostasis, killed the priests, and threw the old metropolitan into the Kura River from the grape terrace of his own house. The same fate befell the entire Armenian-Gregorian clergy, gathered by order of the Shah in the Vank Cathedral.”

Modernity

Now in Tbilisi there are three churches of the 12th-13th centuries, and Zion is one of them, but, unfortunately, that cladding in 1710 changed its exterior beyond recognition. None of the carvings or decorations that characterize the temples of that era remain at all. Looking at the cathedral, you feel some dissonance between its age and its appearance. He resembles a lady in her forties trying to look twenty.

By design, this is a typical cathedral of the Georgian “golden age”. It is domed, with two supporting columns and two aisles on the north and south. The layout of the cathedral and its entire interior have hardly changed since the 12th century. The only thing that confuses me is the vaults, which look too gothic. Probably they were still transferred to later eras.

There is no iconostasis in the cathedral, instead there is a classic Georgian altar partition. It can be assumed that during the imperial era there was still an iconostasis, but then it was removed.

Murals

In 1795, all the frescoes of the temple burned out. In 1853 - 1860, the temple was re-painted by Grigory Gagarin, who tried to work in the Georgian style, but still his style differs from the local Georgian one - even all the inscriptions are made in Russian. Most of the paintings in our time are Gagarin. He painted all the walls except for some reason the western one.

In 1980 - 1983, the cathedral was restored. It was then that local artist Levan Tsutskiridze personally received an order from the patriarch to paint the cathedral. And he began to paint the western wall with gloomy, modern paintings, which no artist in Georgia had allowed himself before or since. And something went wrong, somewhere the technology was violated, and the paint deteriorated. Tsutskiridze never finished his strange work. The western wall is still black with pale figures. The figures are best seen in the arches of the support pillars - some saints are depicted there in the heroic poses of Soviet heroes.

Two chapels of the cathedral are already painted in our time. These are completely new paintings, but they were made according to all the canonical rules and are quite nice. In the northern aisle you can find the “descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles” and the construction scene of Svetitskhoveli, in the southern aisle you can find the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and much more.

Cross of St. Nina

The most historical and interesting thing in the cathedral is the cross of St. Nina, the main relic of Georgia. This seems to be the same cross with which Nina entered Iberia on June 1, 320. For many centuries, from the very moment of the Baptism of Georgia, it was hidden in hard-to-reach places, taken even to Russia, and now it is placed in a frame inside the temple, a little to the left of the altar gates. Moreover, even from a close distance the cross itself is not visible; it is wrapped in cloth. On the stone frame around the cross it is written approximately “Honorable Cross, have mercy on us”, and it is written not in the Asomtavruli font, as is usually done in churches, but in a modern font, although stylized to resemble an ancient one.

Facing

The cathedral is lined with tuff on all sides except the foundation. There, at the very bottom, you can see the original stone from the 12th century. In addition, pieces of the old walls are visible here and there. If you enter the cathedral from the southern aisle, then to the right of the entrance you can see a stone corner, decorated with a heavily worn half-column. This is very similar to the original carvings from the early years. To the left of the entrance in a niche you can see a whole piece of the wall.

Old masonry can also be seen in the walls of the southern aisle, but it was built later than the cathedral itself.

Burials

Nowadays, about a dozen gravestones can be seen in and around the cathedral. Mostly bishops and clergy of the cathedral were buried outside. Inside, in front of the altar wall, on the left side, you can see the black slabs of the graves of the patriarchs - most often from the Soviet era. Closer to the southern wall there are the graves of the princes Dzhambakur-Orbeliani.

But there are also strange things. Generals Lazarev and Tsitsianov were buried in the cathedral. And these graves should have been very noticeable, because Tsitsianov was still the Commander-in-Chief in the Caucasus. And everywhere it is written that they exist. But they are not there. Even local local historians have not yet come to an understanding on this issue.

How to find

Zion Cathedral is clearly visible from any observation deck. It is recognizable by its gray dome, the dark dome of the neighboring Norashen Cathedral and a small bell tower with a spire. If you are wandering along the alleys of the Old Town, you must first get onto Leselidze Street, and then somehow turn onto the one parallel to it