Tbilisi Sioni Cathedral
Encyclopedia
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Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
in Tbilisi
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...
, the capital of Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
. Following a medieval Georgian tradition of naming churches after particular places in the Holy Land
Holy Land
The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...
, the Sioni Cathedral bears the name of Mount Zion
Mount Zion
Mount Zion is a place name for a site in Jerusalem, the location of which has shifted several times in history. According to the Hebrew Bible's Book of Samuel, it was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered by King David, becoming his palace in the City...
at Jerusalem. It is commonly known as the "Tbilisi Sioni" to distinguish it from several other churches across Georgia bearing the name Sioni.
The Tbilisi Sioni Cathedral is situated in historic Sionis Kucha (Sioni Street) in downtown Tbilisi, with its eastern façade fronting the right embankment of the Mtkvari River. It was initially built in the 6th-7th centuries. Since then, it has been destroyed by foreign invaders and reconstructed several times. The current church is based on a 13th-century version with some changes from the 17th to 19th centuries. The Sioni Cathedral was the main Georgian Orthodox Cathedral and the seat of Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia
Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia
Catholicos–Patriarch has been the title of the heads of the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1010. The first Catholicos–Patriarch of All Georgia was Melkisedek I...
until the Holy Trinity Cathedral was consecrated in 2004.
History
Guaram I of Iberia
Guaram I was a Georgian prince, who attained to the hereditary rulership of Iberia and the Roman title of curopalates from 588 to c. 590. He is commonly identified with the Gorgenes of the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes....
, the presiding prince of Iberia
Caucasian Iberia
Iberia , also known as Iveria , was a name given by the ancient Greeks and Romans to the ancient Georgian kingdom of Kartli , corresponding roughly to the eastern and southern parts of the present day Georgia...
(Kartli
Kartli
Kartli is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari , on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial role in ethnic and political consolidation of the Georgians in the Middle Ages...
), in c. 575 began building a new structure, which was completed by his successor Adarnase
Adarnase, Eristavt Eristavi
Adarnase III of Tao was a Georgian prince of the Bagratid dynasty of Tao-Klarjeti and hereditary ruler of Tao with the title of eristavt-eristavi, "duke of dukes"....
in circa 639. According to legend, both princes were buried in this church, but no trace of their raves has been found. This early church was completely destroyed by Arabs
Muslim conquests
Muslim conquests also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests, began with the Islamic prophet Muhammad. He established a new unified polity in the Arabian Peninsula which under the subsequent Rashidun and Umayyad Caliphates saw a century of rapid expansion of Muslim power.They...
, and was subsequently built de novo.
The Cathedral was completely rebuilt by King David the Builder
David IV of Georgia
David IV "the Builder", also known as David II , of the Bagrationi dynasty, was a king of Georgia from 1089 until his death in 1125....
in 1112. The basic elements of the existing structure date from this period. It was heavily damaged in 1226, when its dome was ruined
Hundred Thousand Martyrs of Tbilisi
The Hundred Thousand Martyrs are saints of the Georgian Orthodox Church, who were put to death, according to the 14th-century anonymous Georgian source Chronicle of a Hundred Years, for not renouncing Christianity by the Khwarezmid sultan Jalal ad-Din upon his capture of the Georgian capital of...
at the order of Jalal ad Din Mingburnu. It was subsequently repaired, but damaged again by Timur
Timur
Timur , historically known as Tamerlane in English , was a 14th-century conqueror of West, South and Central Asia, and the founder of the Timurid dynasty in Central Asia, and great-great-grandfather of Babur, the founder of the Mughal Dynasty, which survived as the Mughal Empire in India until...
in 1386 and repaired by King Alexander I
Alexander I of Georgia
Alexander I, “the Great” , of the Bagrationi house, was king of Georgia from 1412 to 1442. Despite his efforts to restore the country from the ruins left by the Turco-Mongol warlord Timur Leng’s invasions, Georgia never recovered and faced the inevitable fragmentation that was followed by a long...
. It was again damaged during the Persian invasion in the 17th century.
In 1657, the Metropolitan
Metropolitan bishop
In Christian churches with episcopal polity, the rank of metropolitan bishop, or simply metropolitan, pertains to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis; that is, the chief city of a historical Roman province, ecclesiastical province, or regional capital.Before the establishment of...
of Tbilisi, Elise Saginashvili (d.1670), substantially restored the cupola
Cupola
In architecture, a cupola is a small, most-often dome-like, structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome....
and added the southern chapel, but the structure was again devastated in 1668, this time by earthquake
Earthquake
An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...
.
The regent of Kartli, batonishvili
Batonishvili
Batonishvili was a title for princes and princesses of the blood royal in the Transcaucasian kingdom of Georgia, and was suffixed to the Christian name e.g., Alexandre Batonishvili, Ioane Batonishvili...
(prince) Vakhtang
Vakhtang VI of Kartli
Vakhtang VI , also known as Vakhtang the Scholar and Vakhtang the Lawgiver, was a Wāli of Kartli, eastern Georgia, as a nominal vassal to the Persian shah from 1716 to 1724. Traditionally, he has been still styled as king of Kartli...
, carried out restorations of the cupola and cathedral walls in 1710. However, the church was again damaged by the invasion of the Persians in 1795.
The cathedral's interior took a different look between 1850 and 1860 when the Russian artist and general Knyaz
Knyaz
Kniaz, knyaz or knez is a Slavic title found in most Slavic languages, denoting a royal nobility rank. It is usually translated into English as either Prince or less commonly as Duke....
Grigory Gagarin
Grigory Gagarin
Prince Grigory Grigorievich Gagarin was a Russian painter, Major General and administrator.-Noble youth:Grigory Gagarin was born in Saint Petersburg to the noble Rurikid princely Gagarin family. His father, Prince Grigory Ivanovich Gagarin , was a Russian diplomat in France and later the...
(1810 – 1893) composed an interesting series of the murals, though the older Georgian fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
es were lost in the process. A portion of the murals on the western wall were executed by the Georgian artist Levan Tsutskiridze in the 1980s.
The stone iconostasis
Iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity an iconostasis is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a church. Iconostasis also refers to a portable icon stand that can be placed anywhere within a church...
dates to the 1850s. It replaced the wooden iconostasis burned during the Persian invasion in 1795. To the left of the altar
Altar
An altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
is the venerated Grapevine cross
Grapevine cross
The Grapevine Cross also known as the Georgian cross or Saint Nino's cross, is a major symbol of the Georgian Orthodox Church, dating from the 4th century AD, when Christianity became an official religion in the kingdom of Iberia .It is recognisable by the slight drooping of its horizontal arms...
which, according to a tradition, was forged by Saint Nino
Saint Nino
Saint Nino , ), Equal to the Apostles in and the Enlightener of Georgia, was a woman who preached Christianity in Georgia....
, a Cappadocia
Cappadocia
Cappadocia is a historical region in Central Anatolia, largely in Nevşehir Province.In the time of Herodotus, the Cappadocians were reported as occupying the whole region from Mount Taurus to the vicinity of the Euxine...
n woman who preached Christianity in Georgia in the early 4th century. King Vakhtang III
Vakhtang III of Georgia
Vakhtang III , of the dynasty of Bagrationi, was the king of Georgia from 1302 to 1308. he ruled during the Mongol dominance of Georgia....
gave the reliquary
Reliquary
A reliquary is a container for relics. These may be the physical remains of saints, such as bones, pieces of clothing, or some object associated with saints or other religious figures...
itself in the early 14th century.
The Sioni Cathedral also entered history as the place where the Russian Imperial manifesto on the annexation of Georgia was first published. It occurred on April 12, 1802, when the Russian commander-in-chief in Georgia, General Karl von Knorring, assembled the Georgian nobles in the Cathedral, which was then surrounded by Russian troops. The nobles were forced to take an oath to the Russian Imperial crown. Any who disagreed were taken into custody.
Sioni Cathedral remained functional through Soviet times, and was partially renovated from 1980-1983.
Architecture
Church architecture
Church architecture refers to the architecture of buildings of Christian churches. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by imitating other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions...
of an inscribed cross design with projecting polygonal apse
Apse
In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome...
s in the east façade. The yellow tuff
Tuff
Tuff is a type of rock consisting of consolidated volcanic ash ejected from vents during a volcanic eruption. Tuff is sometimes called tufa, particularly when used as construction material, although tufa also refers to a quite different rock. Rock that contains greater than 50% tuff is considered...
from which the cathedral was built comes from Bolnisi
Bolnisi
Bolnisi , is a city in the country of Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. Currently has an estimated 13,800 inhabitants....
, a town southwest of Tbilisi. The facades are simple, with few decorations, although there are bas-relief carvings of a cross and a chained lion on the western side and an angel and saints on the north. All sixteen windows have carved ornamental frames.
North of the cathedral, within the courtyard, is a freestanding three-story bell tower dating from the 1425 reconstruction by King Alexander I. Largely destroyed by the Persians in 1795, it was restored to its present condition in 1939. Just across the street stands another three-story bell tower of particular architectural interest. Built in 1812 in commemoration of the Russian victory in the Russo-Turkish War
Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812
The Russo-Turkish War was one of many wars fought between Imperial Russia and the Ottoman Empire.- Background :The war broke out in 1805–1806 against the background of the Napoleonic Wars...
of 1806-1812 over the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
, it is one of the oldest examples of Russian Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
in South Caucasus
South Caucasus
The South Caucasus is a geopolitical region located on the border of Eastern Europe and Southwest Asia also referred to as Transcaucasia, or The Trans-Caucasus...
.
Burials
The Sioni Cathedral serves as a burial ground for several notable churchmen, including the 20th-century Catholicoi-Patriarchs of GeorgiaCatholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia
Catholicos–Patriarch has been the title of the heads of the Georgian Orthodox Church since 1010. The first Catholicos–Patriarch of All Georgia was Melkisedek I...
:
- Kyrion IIPatriarch Kyrion II of GeorgiaKyrion II was a Georgian religious figure and historian who served as the first Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia after the restoration of independence of the Georgian Orthodox Church from the Russian Orthodox Church in 1917 until his assassination in 1918...
, - LeonidPatriarch Leonid of GeorgiaLeonid was a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1918 to 1921.Born Longinoz Okropiridze in Georgia, then part of Imperial Russia, he graduated from the Theological Academy of Kiev, Ukraine in 1888...
, - Ambrose,
- Christophorus IIIPatriarch Christophorus III of GeorgiaChristophorus III was a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from 1927 until his death.He was born as Kristepore Tsitskishvili near the town of Kharagauli. Having graduated from the Tiflis Theological Seminary in 1895, he served as a priest in the Trans-Caspian region, and later in Georgia...
, - Callistratus,
- Melchizedek III,
- Ephraim II,
- Patriarch David V of GeorgiaPatriarch David V of GeorgiaDavid V was a Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia from July 2, 1972, until his death. His full title was His Holiness and Beatitude, Archbishop of Mtskheta-Tbilisi and Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia....