Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
Eleventh-century cathedral in the old Georgian capital, part of the UNESCO-listed monuments of Mtskheta.
Svetitskhoveli is the cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church in Mtskheta, the country's ancient capital at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers. The present cross-domed building was raised between 1010 and 1029 under Catholicos Melkisedek by the architect Arsukisdze, whose name appears in an inscription on the north facade. It replaced a fourth-century wooden church and a fifth-century basilica, remains of which have been found beneath the floor. Stone walls and towers were added around the precinct in the later medieval period.
The name means the living pillar, from a legend that the robe of Christ was buried here and a cedar grew on the spot. The cathedral served as the burial place of Georgian kings, among them Vakhtang Gorgasali and Erekle II, whose tombs lie in the nave. Inside are fragments of medieval wall painting, a seventeenth-century copy of the Jerusalem tomb of Christ and a large painted Last Judgement. Since 1994 the monument has formed part of the UNESCO World Heritage site Historical Monuments of Mtskheta.
Highlights
- Cross-domed church of 1010–1029 signed by the architect Arsukisdze
- Royal tombs including Vakhtang Gorgasali and Erekle II
- Stone model of the Jerusalem sepulchre inside the nave
- Part of the UNESCO Historical Monuments of Mtskheta
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