GEORGIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH (Orthodox Autocephalous Church of Georgia), one of the oldest Orthodox local Churches.

period before the beginning of the 11th century. The beginning of the preaching of Christianity in the territory of ancient Iberia dates back to apostolic times. According to church tradition, the Mother of God Herself was supposed to preach Christianity in Iveria (for this reason, Iveria is considered one of Her earthly inheritances), but the Lord ordered Her to stay in Jerusalem, and the Apostle Andrew the First-Called went to Georgia with Her miraculous image. He preached in Western and Southern Georgia; on the territory of Southwestern Georgia (Meskheti), he founded the first episcopal department in the village of Atskuri (near the modern city of Akhaltsikhe). Apostles Simon the Zealot and Matthias also preached in Western Georgia (according to tradition, both were buried in the territory of Western Georgia), in Eastern Georgia - Apostles Thaddeus and Bartholomew. Thanks to the sermon of St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina in 326, during the reign of King Mirian, Christianity was declared the official religion in the kingdom of Kartli, which at that time occupied almost the entire territory of modern Georgia. Initially, the Church of Kartli was under the jurisdiction of Antioch, but already in the 480s, under King Vakhtang I Gorgasala (died 502), who united all of Georgia, the Georgian Church underwent a reorganization and became autocephalous with the center in Mtskheti [obtaining autocephaly during the time of Patriarch Peter of Antioch ( 469-471, 475-476, 478-479, 485-489) is confirmed by the famous canonist Theodore Balsamon (between 1130 and 1140 - after 1195)]. An archbishop with the title of catholicos was placed at the head of the church hierarchy, new dioceses were formed and a synod was created. From the 520s, the local clergy began to be elected as Catholicoses of Mtskheta instead of the supplied Antioch bishops. The first Catholicos of Georgian origin was Savva I (523-532). Western Georgia, which fell into dependence on the Byzantine Empire in the same period, also submitted to Constantinople in terms of ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

In the 4th-5th centuries, the Gospel, as well as the Psalms, were translated into Georgian, in the 5th century, the Acts of the Apostles, as well as the definitions of the 1st-4th Ecumenical Councils. The appearance of the first original hagiographic works - "The Life of St. Nino" (4th century), "The Martyrdom of the Holy Queen Shushanik" by Jacob Tsurtaveli (the last quarter of the 5th century) belongs to the same period. Since the 4th century, the Georgian Church has maintained close ties with the Christian centers of the East. The activity of Georgian monasticism was active in Palestine, in the Sinai, in Syria, and later on the territory of the Byzantine Empire [The Cross Monastery and the Monastery of St. Nicholas in Jerusalem, the Iberian Monastery on Athos, the Bachkovo Monastery (Bulgaria), etc.]. Georgian kings and Catholicos-patriarchs paid considerable attention to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.

In Georgian monasteries abroad, scholar-monks carried out extensive literary, translation and educational work [Peter Iver, John Laz (5th century), Illarion Kartveli (1st half of the 9th century), Euthymius, George Svyatogortsy (11th century), and also John Svyatogorets (died in 998 or 1002), Ephraim Mtsire (about 1025 - about 1100), Ioane Petritsi (died about 1125) and others]. Monastic life in Georgia itself originated in the 5th century, but it received particular development in the 1st half of the 6th century with the arrival of 13 Sirian (Syrian) desert fathers who founded monasteries in different regions of the country. The activity of the Sirian fathers in the era of the struggle of the Georgian Church with Monophysitism played a significant role in strengthening the tradition of Orthodoxy in Georgia (the final break of the Georgian Church with the Monophysite Armenian Church dates back to the beginning of the 7th century). The monasteries founded by Sir monks (Zedazensky, Shiomghvimsky, Martkopsky, David Gareji, etc.) throughout the Middle Ages remained the largest centers of Georgian culture and education. Since the 8th century, monastic life has become especially widespread in Southwestern Georgia (Meskheti, Javakheti, Tao-Klarjeti), where such large monastic centers as Opiza, Ishkhani, Oshki, Bana, Tskarostavi, Khandzta, Khakhuli, Shatberdi, Zarzma and etc. Here they conducted scientific and literary activity the most prominent representatives of the Georgian Church: Grigol Khandzteli (1st half of the 9th century), George Merchuli (10th century), Mikael Modrekili (end of the 10th century), John-Zosim (10th century), etc.

In the 8th-9th centuries, several independent eristavstvos arose on the territory of Georgia (Kakheti, Hereti, Tao-Klarjeti and the Abkhazian kingdom), which fought among themselves for political primacy and the unification of all Georgian lands, with a special role assigned to Orthodoxy. So, the Abkhazian mtavars (princes) freed from the influence of the Byzantine Empire, and then the kings, pursued a policy of gradual abolition of the Greek departments, the establishment of new ones instead, with worship in the Georgian language, the creation of an independent church organization from Constantinople - the Abkhazian Catholicosate (9th-10th centuries), - later included in the jurisdiction of the throne of Mtskheta [at the beginning of the 11th century, the Mtskheta (Kartli) Catholicoses received the title of patriarchs and are still called Catholicos-Patriarchs to this day; the first such Catholicos was Melchizedek I (1001 or 1012-30; 1039-45)].

Period 11th-18th centuries. 11-12 centuries - the "golden" period in the history of the Georgian Church. During this era, the largest centers of Georgian theological thought and education were created - the Gelati Academy [at the Gelati Monastery; founded at the beginning of the 12th century by King David IV the Builder (1089-1125) near Kutaisi], the Ikaltoy Academy (in Kakheti), and many church-administrative and canonical problems in the life of the Georgian Church were identified and resolved. For this purpose, in 1104, King David IV the Builder convened the Ruya-Urbnia Cathedral, which confirmed the loyalty of the Georgian Church to Orthodoxy. In order to achieve harmony in relations between the Church and the state, David introduced the highest hierarchs and abbots of the largest monasteries into the Darbazi (royal Council), and appointed the bishop of Chkondidi, the largest diocese in Western Georgia, as the head of Mtsignobartukhutsesi (government). In the 13th-14th centuries, Georgia was subjected to devastating raids by the Khorezmian troops, as well as the Mongols, who led the country into decline and plunged it into anarchy. In the 15th century, the Byzantine and Trebizond empires fell. Georgia, surrounded by Muslim powers, where internecine wars began, by the end of the 15th century broke up into 3 kingdoms (Kartli, Kakheti, Imereti) and the principality of Samtskhe-Saatabago. Later, Abkhazia, Megrelia, Guria and Svaneti, subject to the Imeretian king, took shape as semi-independent political units. Political fragmentation was followed by ecclesiastical fragmentation. As a result, in the 15th century, the Abkhazian (Western Georgian) Catholicosate, which was actually independent of the throne of Mtskheta, arose with its center in Bichvinta (now Pitsunda). In the 2nd half of the 16th century, due to the strengthening of the Ottoman threat and the onslaught of the mountain tribes of the North Caucasus, the center of the Abkhazian Catholicosate was transferred from Bichvinta to the Gelati Monastery. The period of 16-18 centuries turned out to be the most difficult in the history of the Georgian Church. For three centuries, Georgia had to wage an almost continuous struggle against the aggression of Iran, Turkey, and from the 17th century - against the raids of the North Caucasian feudal lords. In the literature, this epoch was given the name "the epoch of martyrs for the faith."

Period 19th - early 21st century. At the beginning of the 19th century, Eastern Georgia was annexed to Russia; in 1811, the autocephaly of the Georgian Church was abolished and the Georgian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) was formed, headed by Metropolitan Varlaam (Eristavi) (1811-17); since 1832 - archbishops. From 1814 to 1917, the general management of the Georgian Church was carried out by the Georgian-Imereti Synodal Office. In March 1917, the autocephaly of the Georgian Church was restored; in September 1917, Kirion III (Sadzaglishvili) (1917-18) was elected Catholicos-Patriarch. After the restoration of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church, contrary to the position of the Russian Orthodox Church, its Eucharistic communion with the Russian Church was interrupted (restored in 1943).

At the beginning of the 21st century, the primate of the Georgian Orthodox Church is the Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II (Gudushauri-Shiolashvili), elected in December 1977. The name of the current primate is associated with the strengthening of the position of the Church: the Tbilisi Theological Academy, Gelati Academy of Sciences, Akhaltsikhe, Batumi, Poti Theological Seminaries, over 10 Orthodox gymnasiums and schools, many historical departments have been restored. In October 2002, a constitutional agreement was signed between the Georgian state and the Church, designed to regulate church-state relations. At the beginning of the 21st century, 35 dioceses operate in the Georgian Orthodox Church, a Western European diocese was formed to minister to Georgian parishes in Western European countries, and a new Trinity Cathedral was erected (Tbilisi).

The supreme body of the Georgian Orthodox Church is the Local Council; between the cathedrals - the Synod, headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch. All the ruling bishops of the Georgian Orthodox Church are members of the Synod. Printed organs of the patriarchy: the magazine "Jvari Vazisa" ("Cross of the Vine"), the newspapers "Madli" ("Grace"), "Sapatriarkos Utskebani" ("Vedomosti of the Patriarchy").

Source: Leonty Mroveli. Conversion of Kartli by St. Ninoy // Kartlis Tskhovreba / Ed. S. Kaukhchishvili. Tb., 1955 (in Georgian); Conversion of Kartli // Shatberd collection of the 10th century. / Ed. B. Gigineishvili, E. Giunashvili. Tb., 1979 (in Georgian); Juansher Juansherani. Life of Vakhtang Gorgasal / Transl., Introduction. G. V. Tsulaya. Tb., 1986; Ancient Georgian literature (V-XVIII centuries) / Comp. L. V. Menabde. Tb., 1987.

Lit.: Essays on the history of Georgia. Tb., 1988. Vol. 2: Georgia in the 4th-10th centuries; Bessonov M.N. Orthodoxy in our days. M., 1990; Anania (Japaridze), archbishop. History of the Georgian Apostolic Church. Tb., 1996. Vol. 1; Calendar of the Georgian Apostolic Church for 2006. Tb., 2006 (in Georgian).

3. D. Abashidze.

Church singing tradition. Initially, church singing was, perhaps, monodic, like Byzantine. Presumably, the beginning of hymnography in Georgian (the oldest layer of texts - translations from Greek) was laid in the 7th century in Georgian monasteries in Palestine; in the earliest liturgical monument - the Lectionary - 3 main types of singing are mentioned: responsorial, antiphonal and the so-called recitative. Created on the basis of the Lectionary, the collection of Iagdari (Tropologies) combines the hymns of the church year; in the so-called Ancient Iagdari (end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century), a special singing terminology was recorded using ancient Georgian words. Since the 9th century, original hymnographic creativity in the Georgian language has also developed, reaching its peak in the 10th century. Manuscripts from the 10th and 11th centuries use a system of non-noun notation; neumes are placed above and below a line of text (the same principle is observed in manuscripts of the 18th and 19th centuries). Among the books stands out the collection of Mikael Modrekili - Annual Yagdari (compiled in 977-988 in the Shatberd Lavra in South Georgia), which contains chants to the original texts of Mikael Modrekili, John Minchkha, John Mtbevari, Stefan Sananoisdze-Chkondideli, Ezra, Kurdanay, John Konkozisdze, Georgy Merchuli, anonymous Georgian authors and translations - John of Damascus, Cosmas of Mayumsky, Andrey of Crete and others; presumably by this time the Georgians were already composing melodies (avadzhi). In the 11th century, unique in its completeness, the Menaion of George Mtatsmindeli (Iberian Monastery on Athos) was created, which, along with translations, composed texts and melodies. The earliest known message about the polyphony (three-voice) of Georgian sacred music (Ioane Petritsi) dates back to the 11th century.

In Georgian church singing, 2 main branches are distinguished: eastern (Kartalino-Kakheti, combines the traditions of the David Gareji, Shiomgvim, Martkop monasteries) and western (Imeretino-Gurian, traditions of the Gelati, Martvili, Shemokmed monasteries). Georgian church singing (haloba) is exclusively three-voice (the tradition of singing for 6 voices, which is reported by the sources of the 18-19th century, has been lost), the modal system is modal. The leading chant (hangi) is in the upper voice (mtkmeli), the middle voice (modzahili) and the bass (bani) adjust to the upper one (the method of adjusting the lower voices vertically is called “shebaneba”, the sound of all 3 voices is “shekhmoba”). The synchronicity of the pronunciation of a verbal text in different voices is characteristic. Georgian church singing is based on the osmosis system. Voices are divided into authentic (khmani, literally - voices) and plagal (guerdni, literally - side or side). Chants in "khmani" and "guerdni" are combined in the book "Paraklitoni". There is a genre differentiation of voices. The chants are composed of typical melodic formulas. Coloring and harmonic variation are especially developed in Western Georgia and are called "gamshveneba". To record the chants, along with the non-permanent notation, the verbal system “chreli” was used: explanations for the use of 24 intonational modes (chrelta gvarni) were written in red in the text of the chants. (The ambiguous term "chreli" has been known since the 13th century).

In the 13th-16th centuries, the Georgian church singing art was in decline, the tradition was preserved only in some churches and monasteries. Around the 16th century, a collection of Gulani appeared, combining the material of all liturgical books of the church year. In the 17-18 centuries, hymnographic collections “Sadgesastsaulo” (“Holidays”) were created, including information about Georgian hymnographers, including Nikoloz Magalashvili, Vissarion (Orbelishvili-Baratashvili), Nikoloz Cherkezishvili, and others. At the end of the 18th century, under Irakli II, a revival began spiritual singing, steps were taken to preserve the best singing traditions, the singing school of the Catholicosate was founded in Svetitskhoveli.

The loss of autocephaly by the Georgian Church (1811; restored in 1917) led to the gradual destruction of its national traditions. The order to perform services in the Church Slavonic language, the ban on singing in the church in the Georgian language, the decline of their own singing schools threatened the very existence of Georgian church singing. From the second half of the 19th century, the struggle for its preservation was resumed, in 1862-63 a Commission was created, and in the 1880s, a Committee for the restoration of Georgian church singing. The traditional singing repertoire was recorded from the voices of experienced singers in 5-linear notation (manuscripts containing several thousand chants are kept at the Institute of Manuscripts of the Georgian Academy of Sciences named after K. Kekelidze). During the Soviet era, Georgian traditional spiritual singing was almost completely forgotten. The study of musical manuscripts and the use of the most ancient chants in worship resumed in the 1980s. At the beginning of the 21st century, services in the churches of Georgia are performed with Georgian traditional singing.

Lit. : Arakishvili D. On the musical structure of folk spiritual chants of Eastern Georgia // Materials for Georgian ethnography. Tb., 1953. T. 6; Chkhikvadze G. Ancient Georgian musical culture // Georgian musical culture. M., 1957; Andriadze M. Georgian musical notation. Ways of decoding // Gymnology. M., 2000. Book. 2. S. 517-526; she is. Peculiarities of the hymns of the All-Night Vigil in Georgia... // Church singing in the historical and liturgical context: East - Russia - West. M., 2003; Oniani E. Some thoughts on Georgian virtuoso singing // Problems of spiritual and secular polyphony. Tb., 2001 (in Georgian and English); Andriadze M., Chkheidze T. The “Chreli” System in Georgian Singing Practice // Reports of the 1st International Symposium on Traditional Polyphony. Tb., 2003 (in Georgian and English); Ositashvili M. On some features of ancient Georgian professional music // Ibid.; Shugliashvili D. Georgian singing schools and traditions // Ibid.

Initially, the Primate of the Georgian Church bore the title of "Catholicos-Archbishop", and from 1012 - "Catholicos-Patriarch".

Gradually, from the Iberians, Christianity spread among the Abkhazians, as a result of which, in 541, an episcopal see was established in Pitiunt (modern Pitsunda). Even in ancient times, Abazgia (Western Georgia) usually served as a center of exile. During the persecution of Christians under the emperor Diocletian, the martyr Orentius and his 6 brothers were exiled to Pitiunt; on the way to Pitunt (in Komany - near modern Sukhumi) in 407, St. John Chrysostom died. But in ecclesiastical and political relations, Abazgia until the end of the 8th century. was dependent on Byzantium. The official language of the administration and the Church was Greek. Probably only at the turn of the VIII - IX centuries. the Abkhazian (Western Georgian) kingdom appeared independent of Byzantium (with its center in Kutaisi). At the same time, tendencies began to appear towards the formation of an independent Church here.

7.2. Georgian Church under Arab and Turkish rule ( VIII - XVIII centuries). Division into Catholicosates

From the end of the 7th c. The North Caucasus is beginning to experience the wave of Arab conquests. The Byzantine Empire acted as a natural ally of the Christian Caucasian peoples in the struggle against the Muslim conquerors.

Nevertheless, in 736, the Arab commander Marvan ibn Muhammad (in Georgian sources - Murvan the Deaf) with a 120,000-strong army decided to conquer the entire Caucasus. In 736 - 738 years. his troops devastated southern and eastern Georgia (Kartli), where in 740 they met fierce resistance from the Aragveti princes David and Constantine. These princes were taken prisoner, subjected to severe torture and were thrown by the Arabs from a cliff in the river. Rioni. Following this, the Arab army moved further to Western Georgia (Abazgia), where, under the walls of the Anakopia fortress, they were defeated and were forced to leave Western Georgia. According to the historian Dzhuansher, the victory of the Christian Abkhaz army over the Arabs is explained by the intercession of the Anakopia Icon of the Mother of God - "Nikopeia". However, on the territory of Western Georgia, the Tbilisi Emirate was created, subordinate to the Arab Caliph.

As a result of these wars, the dynasty of the rulers of Abazgia - Western Georgia - grew stronger. This contributed to the unification of the region of Laziki (Southern Georgia) with Abazgia into a single West Georgian (Abkhazian) kingdom. In parallel with this process, an independent Abkhazian is also taking shape in Abazgia. Most likely, this happened under the Abkhazian king George II (916 - 960), when, regardless of the interests of Byzantium, an independent episcopal Chkondid see was formed here. By the end of the ninth century the Greek language in worship is gradually giving way to Georgian.

In 1010 - 1029. in Mtskheta - the ancient capital of Georgia - the architect Konstantin Arsukisdze built the majestic Cathedral "Sveti Tskhoveli" ("Life-Giving Pillar") in the name of the Twelve Apostles, considered the mother of Georgian churches. The enthronement of the Georgian Catholicos-Patriarchs has since been performed only in this Cathedral.

Under King David IV the Builder (1089 - 1125), Georgia was finally united - Western (Abkhazia) and Eastern (Kartli). Under him, the Tbilisi Emirate was liquidated, and the capital of the state was transferred from Kutaisi to Tiflis (Tbilisi). At the same time, a church unification took place: the Mtskheta Catholicos-Patriarch extended his spiritual authority to all of Georgia, including Abkhazia, as a result of which he received the title of Catholicos -Patriarch of all Georgia, and the territory of Western Georgia (Abkhazia) became part of the single Mtskheta Patriarchate.

Thus, at the turn of the XI - XII centuries. the position of the Iberian Church has changed. It has become one - the division into the West Georgian and East Georgian Churches has disappeared. King David was actively engaged in the construction of new temples and monasteries. In 1103, he convened a Church Council, at which the Orthodox confession of faith was approved and the canons concerning the behavior of Christians were adopted.

The golden age for Georgia was the time of David's great granddaughter, St. Queen Tamara (1184 - 1213). She expanded the territory of Georgia from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea. Works of spiritual, philosophical and literary content were translated into Georgian.

A particular danger to Georgia since the XIII century. began to represent the Mongol-Tatars, especially after they accepted. One of the most cruel for Georgians was the campaign of Timur Tamerlane in 1387, which mercilessly destroyed cities and villages, hundreds of people died.

Under the influence of the ongoing conquests and political unrest at the turn of the XIII - XIV centuries. there is a violation of order in church life. In 1290, the Abkhazian Catholicosate separated from the united Georgian Church - it extended its jurisdiction to Western Georgia (the center was in Pitsunda from 1290, and in Kutaisi from 1657). The title of the Primate is the Catholicos-Patriarch of Abkhazia and Imereti.

On the territory of Eastern Georgia, the Eastern Georgian Catholicosate (center - Mtskheta) simultaneously appeared. The title of Primate is the Catholicos-Patriarch of Kartalya, Kakheti and Tiflis.

The long series of disasters for the Georgian Church was continued by the Ottoman Turks and Persians. During the XVII - XVIII centuries. they periodically made predatory and devastating raids on the territory of Transcaucasia.

It is not surprising that until the second half of the XVIII century. there were no theological schools in Georgia. Only in the middle of the XVIII century. in Tiflis and Telavi, theological seminaries were opened, but before they had time to get stronger, they were destroyed by the conquerors.

According to the Georgian historian Platon Iosselian, for fifteen centuries there was not a single reign in the Kingdom of Georgia that was not accompanied by an attack, or ruin, or cruel oppression by the enemies of Christ.

In 1783, King Erekle II of Kartal and Kakheti (Eastern Georgia) formally recognized Russia's patronage over Georgia. As a result of negotiations with Russia, in 1801 Emperor Alexander I issued a manifesto, according to which Georgia (first Eastern, and then Western) was finally annexed to Russia.

Prior to the accession of Georgia to the Russian Empire, the Georgian one consisted of 13 dioceses, 7 bishops, 799 churches.

7.3. Georgian Exarchate within the Russian Orthodox Church. Restoration of autocephaly in 1917

After reunification with Russia, the Georgian Orthodox became part of the Russian on the basis of the Exarchate. Western Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Maxim II (1776-1795) retired to Kiev in 1795, where he died the same year. From that moment on, the spiritual authority over both Catholicosates passed to the East Georgian Catholicos-Patriarch Anthony II (1788-1810). In 1810, by decision of the Holy Synod of the Russian Church, he was removed, and the Exarch of Iveria, Metropolitan Varlaam (Eristavi) (1811 - 1817) was appointed in his place. Thus, the Georgian Church became directly dependent on the Russian Orthodox Church and was illegally deprived of its autocephaly.

On the other hand, the presence of Orthodox Georgians under the wing of the Russian Church revived and stabilized the spiritual life in Georgia, which could not be achieved under the previous conditions of constant conquest.

During the existence of the Georgian Exarchate, important positive changes took place: in 1817 a theological seminary was opened in Tiflis, in 1894 a seminary in Kutaisi. Diocesan women's schools and parochial schools were opened.

Since the 1860s The journal "Georgian Spiritual Bulletin" (in Georgian) began to be published. Since 1886, a two-week church-religious magazine “Mtskemsi” (“Shepherd”) began to appear in Georgian and Russian, which was published until 1902. From 1891 to 1906 and from 1909 to 1917. The weekly official journal "Spiritual Herald of the Georgian Exarchate" began to be published in Russian and Georgian with a mandatory subscription for the clergy.

Under Exarch Archbishop Pavel (Lebedev) (1882-1887), the Brotherhood of the Most Holy Theotokos was established, which published spiritual and moral literature in Russian and Georgian, organized religious and moral readings, spiritual concerts, etc. In 1897 it was reorganized into the Missionary Spiritual and Educational Brotherhood.

From the 70s of the XIX century. in Abkhazia, the construction of small stone and wooden churches and monasteries is developing. At the same time, it was here, thanks to the Russian monks who arrived here from the Holy Mount Athos, that the center of Orthodox monasticism was being revived. The fact is that, according to church tradition, the Apostle Simon Kananit was buried on this land, and also in the Middle Ages, Abkhazia was one of the well-known centers of Orthodoxy in Western Georgia.

Having received here a significant plot of land (1327 acres), the Russian monks of the St. Panteleimon Athos Monastery from 1875 - 1876. began to build up this area, as a result of which the monastery was founded. By 1896, the monastery complex was completely built, and by 1900, the New Athos Cathedral was erected. The painting of the monastery and the cathedral was carried out by the Volga icon painters Olovyannikov brothers and a group of Moscow artists led by N. V. Malov and A. V. Serebryakov. The new monastery was named the New Athos Simono-Kananitsky (New Athos), which still exists today.

A special direction in the activities of the Georgian exarchs is missionary work among the highlanders. The preaching of Christianity among the Chechens, Dagestanis and other Caucasian peoples began as early as the 18th century. In 1724 St. John Manglissky spread Orthodoxy in Dagestan by founding the Exaltation of the Cross Monastery in Kizlyar. On his initiative, a special mission was created, headed by Archimandrite Pakhomiy, in the course of which many Ossetians, Ingush and other highlanders were converted to holy Orthodoxy.

In 1771, a permanent Ossetian spiritual commission was created (with its center in Mozdok). In the 90s. 18th century its activities temporarily stopped and was resumed in 1815 under the first exarch Varlaam. On the basis of the Ossetian Spiritual Commission in 1860, the "Society for the Restoration of Christianity in the Caucasus" arose, the main tasks of which were, firstly, the preaching of Orthodoxy, and, secondly, the spiritual enlightenment of the Caucasian population.

By the beginning of the twentieth century. The Georgian Exarchate had 4 eparchies, 1.2 million Orthodox believers, over 2 thousand churches, approx. 30 monasteries.

With the beginning of the revolutionary events of 1917 and the most acute political crisis of the Russian state, a movement for political and ecclesiastical independence began in Georgia.

The entry of the Georgian Church into the Russian Church in 1810 was envisaged on the basis of church autonomy, but soon nothing remained of the autonomous rights of the Georgian Exarchate. From 1811 bishops of Russian nationality were appointed exarchs to Georgia; the church property of Georgia was transferred to the full disposal of the Russian authorities, and so on. The Georgians protested against this situation. The autocephalous sentiments of Orthodox Georgians especially intensified in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. during the work of the Pre-Council Presence (1906-1907), convened for the purpose of preparing and studying a draft of the forthcoming reforms in the Russian Orthodox Church.

On March 12, 1917, shortly after the overthrow of the emperor's power in Russia, Orthodox Georgians independently decided to restore the autocephaly of their Church. The Georgian church hierarchs informed the Exarch of Georgia Archbishop Platon (Rozhdestvensky) (1915-1917) that from now on he ceases to be an Exarch.

The church administration of Georgia transmitted its decision to Petrograd to the Provisional Government, which recognized the restoration of the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church, but only as a national Church - without geographical boundaries, - thus leaving the Russian parishes in Georgia under the jurisdiction of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Being dissatisfied with this decision, the Georgians filed a protest to the Provisional Government, where they said that the recognition of the Georgian nature of national, and not territorial autocephaly, strongly contradicts church canons. The autocephaly of the Georgian Church must be recognized on a territorial basis within the ancient Georgian Catholicosate.

In September 1917, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Kirion (Sadzaglishvili) (1917 - 1918) was elected in Georgia, after which the Georgians began to nationalize religious and educational institutions.

The hierarchy of the Russian Orthodox Church, headed by Patriarch Tikhon, opposed the act of the Georgian hierarchs, declaring that it was not canonical.

The Georgians, represented by the new Catholicos-Patriarch Leonid (Okropiridze) (1918-1921), declared that Georgia, having united with Russia more than 100 years ago under a single political authority, never showed a desire to unite with it in church terms. The abolition of the autocephaly of the Georgian Church was a violent act of the secular authorities, contrary to church canons. Catholicos Leonid and the Georgian clergy were completely confident in their rightness and the immutability of observing church rules.

As a result, in 1918 there was a break in prayerful communion between the Georgian and Russian Churches, which lasted 25 years. Only the election of Patriarch Sergius of Moscow and All Russia served as a good pretext for the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Callistratus (Tsintsadze) (1932-1952) to restore relations with the Russian Orthodox Church on the issue of autocephaly.

On October 31, 1943, the reconciliation of the two Churches took place. In the ancient cathedral cathedral of Tbilisi, the Divine Liturgy was performed, uniting in prayerful communion the Catholicos Kallistrat and the representative of the Moscow Patriarchate, Archbishop Anthony of Stavropol. After that, the Holy Synod of the Russian Church, chaired by Patriarch Sergius, issued a ruling, according to which, firstly, prayerful and Eucharistic communion between the Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches was recognized as restored, and, secondly, it was decided to ask the Catholicos of Georgia to provide Russian parishes in the Georgian SSR to preserve in their liturgical practice those orders and customs that they inherited from the Russian Church.

7.4. The current state of the Georgian Orthodox Church

Monasticism and monasteries. The spreaders of monasticism in Georgia were 13 Syrian ascetics, headed by St. John of Zedazne, sent here in the 6th century. from Antioch, St. Simeon the Stylite. It was they who founded one of the first monasteries in Georgia - David Gareji. The most ancient monasteries of Georgia also include Motsameti (VIII century), Gelati (XII century), where the kings of the Georgian kingdom are buried, Shio-Mgvime (XIII century).

Since 980, the Iberian Monastery, founded by St. John Iver. The monk asked the Byzantine emperor for a small monastery of St. Clement on Athos, where the monastery was subsequently founded. The Iberian monks were honored with the apparition of the icon of the Mother of God, named after the Iberian monastery, and according to its location above the monastery gates, the Vratarnitsa (Portaitissa).

In 1083, the Byzantine feudal Gregory Bakurianis founded the Petritson Monastery (now Bachkovsky) on the territory of Bulgaria - one of the largest centers of medieval Georgian culture and monasticism. Through this monastery, close cultural ties were established between Byzantium and Georgia. Translation and scientific-theological activity was actively going on in the monastery. At the end of the XIV century. The monastery was captured by the Ottoman Turks and destroyed it. From the end of the 16th century the monastery was taken over by the Greeks, and in 1894 the monastery was transferred to the Bulgarian Church.

Of the saints of the Georgian Orthodox Church, the most famous are St. equal to ap. Nina (d. 335) (Comm. January 14), Martyr Abo of Tbilisi (VIII century), St. Hilarion the Wonderworker (d. 882), ascetic of the monastery of St. David of Gareji (Comm. 19 November), St. Gregory, rector of the Khandzo monastery (d. 961) (Comm. 5 October), St. Euthymius of Iberia (d. 1028) (Comm. 13 May), Queen Ketevan of Georgia (1624), who died at the hands of the Persian Shah Abbas (Comm. 13 September).

Of the martyrs (although not canonized saints) of recent times, the Georgian theologian Archim. Grigory Peradze. He was born in 1899 in Tiflis in the family of a priest. He studied at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Berlin, then at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Bonn. For the work "The Beginning of Monasticism in Georgia" he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. He taught at the University of Bonn and at Oxford. In 1931 he accepted monasticism and the priesthood. During the Great Patriotic War, he ended up in the Auschwitz concentration camp, where he died in a gas chamber.

Management of Georgian Orthodox and modern life. According to the Regulations on the Administration of the Georgian Orthodox Church (1945), legislative and supreme judicial power belongs to the Church Council, which consists of clergy and laity and is convened by the Catholicos-Patriarch as needed.

The Catholicos-Patriarch is elected by the Church Council by secret ballot. Under the Catholicos-Patriarch, there is a Holy Synod consisting of the ruling bishops and the vicar of the Catholicos. The full title of the Primate of the Georgian Church is “His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi.”

The diocese is led by a bishop. The dioceses are divided into deanery districts.

The parish is governed by the Parish Council (it includes members of the clergy and representatives from the laity, elected by the Parish Assembly for 3 years). The chairman of the Parish Council is the rector of the church.

The largest centers for the training of Orthodox clergy are the Mtskheta Theological Seminary (operating since 1969), the Tbilisi Theological Academy (operating since 1988), and the Gelati Theological Academy.

Divine services in the Georgian Church are performed in Georgian and Church Slavonic languages. In the Sukhumi-Abkhaz diocese, where there are Greek parishes, services are also performed in Greek.

Georgian is a member of the World Council of Churches (since 1962), participated in all five All-Christian World Congresses (second half of the 20th century).

At the Pan-Orthodox Conferences, the Georgian Orthodox Church did not take its rightful place, since the Patriarchate of Constantinople treated its autocephaly ambiguously. In the 1930s The Ecumenical Throne recognized the autocephaly of the Georgian Church, and later took a more restrained position: it began to consider it autonomous. This follows from the fact that the Ecumenical Patriarchate invited only two representatives of the Georgian Church to the First Pan-Orthodox Conference in 1961, and not three (according to the established procedure, autocephalous Churches sent three representatives-bishops, and autonomous ones two). At the Third Pan-Orthodox Conference, the Church of Constantinople believed that the Georgian Church should occupy only 12th place among other Local Orthodox Churches (after the Polish one). The representative of the Georgian Church, Bishop Ilia of Shemokmed (now Catholicos-Patriarch) insisted that the decision of the Patriarchate of Constantinople be revised. Only in 1988, as a result of negotiations between the Constantinople and Georgian Churches, the Ecumenical Throne again began to recognize the Georgian Church as autocephalous, but in the diptych of the Local Orthodox Churches put it in 9th place (after the Bulgarian Church).

In the diptych of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Georgian Church has always occupied and continues to occupy the 6th place.

From 1977 to the present, the Georgian Orthodox Church has been headed by the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II (in the world - Irakli Shiolashvili-Gudushauri). He was born in 1933. Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II continued the revival of the Georgian Church begun by his predecessors. Under him, the number of dioceses increased to 27; the ancient Orthodox Gelati Academy, seminaries and the Theological Academy in Tbilisi again turned into centers of education, with their theologians, translators, scribes and researchers; the construction of a new cathedral in the name of the Holy Trinity in Tbilisi is nearing completion, the main icon for which was painted by His Holiness; edited and published translations of the Gospel and the entire Bible in modern Georgian.

In October 2002, the most important event in the life of the Georgian Orthodox Church took place: a concordat was adopted - “The Constitutional Agreement between the State of Georgia and Autocephalous Orthodox Apostolic Georgia” - this is a unique document for the Orthodox world, covering almost all aspects of the life of the Church with its ancient canonical dispensation in modern Orthodox state. In addition to the "Law on Freedom of Conscience", the state and the Church confirm their readiness to cooperate on the basis of observing the principle of independence from each other. The state guarantees the observance of church sacraments, recognizes marriages registered by the Church. The property of the Church is now protected by law, its property (Orthodox churches, monasteries, land plots) cannot be alienated. Church valuables stored in museums and depositories are recognized as the property of the Church. The twelfth holidays become holidays and weekends, and Sunday cannot be declared a working day.

The canonical territory of the Georgian Orthodox Church is Georgia. The episcopate of the Georgian Orthodox Church has 24 bishops (2000). The number of believers is up to 4 million people (1996).

It should be noted that the Georgians, like us (meaning not the Tatars, but the Russians) are an Orthodox people. It was this fact that, after the capture of ancient Byzantium by the Turks, led to the fact that Orthodox peoples and kingdoms sought help and protection from the Russian Empire.

And the more the Turks and Persians slaughtered and drove Christians into slavery, the more Georgia and Armenia gravitated towards Russia.

Moreover, the well-known Armenian genocide took place in 1915-1918. - and this is quite recent by historical standards, and few people know that in addition to the Armenians in the Turkish Empire, Greeks, Georgians, Assyrians, Kurds and other Christian and non-Christian peoples were killed and expelled.

At present, when a belt of instability is flaring up around our countries, color and brown revolutions are breaking out - the factor of aggressive Islam can return Transcaucasia 500 years ago, and then everything will return to normal!

Trinity Monastery at the foot of Kazbek

The Georgian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous local Orthodox Church, which has the sixth place in the diptychs of the Slavic local Churches and the ninth in the diptychs of the ancient Eastern patriarchates.

One of the oldest Christian churches in the world.

Jurisdiction extends to the territory of Georgia and to all Georgians, wherever they live, as well as to the territory of partially recognized Abkhazia and South Ossetia and to the north of Turkey. According to a legend based on an ancient Georgian manuscript, Georgia is the apostolic lot of the Mother of God.

In 337, through the labors of St. Nina Equal to the Apostles, Christianity became the state religion of Georgia. The church organization was within the boundaries of the Antiochian Church.

The issue of obtaining autocephaly by the Georgian church is a difficult one. According to the historian of the Georgian church, priest Kirill Tsintsadze, the Georgian Church enjoyed de facto independence from the time of King Mirian, but received full autocephaly only in the 5th century from the Council convened by Patriarch Peter III of Antioch.

Article 9 of the Constitution of Georgia states: "The state recognizes the exceptional role of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the history of Georgia and at the same time proclaims complete freedom of religious beliefs and beliefs, the independence of the church from the state."

Christianity as the state religion

In the period between 318 and 337, most likely in 324-326. Through the labors of Saint Equal-to-the-Apostles Nina, Christianity became the state religion of Georgia. The church organization was within the boundaries of the Antiochian Church.

In 451, together with the Armenian Church, it did not accept the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon and in 467, under King Vakhtang I, it became independent from Antioch, acquiring the status of an autocephalous Church with its center in Mtskheta (the residence of the Supreme Catholicos).

In 607 the Church accepted the decisions of Chalcedon, breaking the canonical unity with the Armenian Apostolic Church.

(Recall that the Council of Chalcedon recognized the dogma of the unity of the divine and human principles in Christ!)

Under the Sassanids (VI-VII centuries) it withstood the struggle with the Persian fire-worshippers, and during the Turkish conquests (XVI-XVIII centuries) - with Islam. This exhausting struggle led to the decline of Georgian Orthodoxy and the loss of churches and monasteries in the Holy Land.

In 1744, the Georgian Church underwent reforms similar to the reforms of Patriarch Nikon in Russia.

Gelati Monastery Churches and temples of Georgia

Georgian Exarchate of the Russian Church

In 1801 Georgia became part of the Russian Empire. According to the project developed by the chief managing general A.P. Tormasov and presented to Alexander I in 1811, in Eastern Georgia, instead of 13 dioceses, 2 were established: Mtskheta-Kartala and Alaverdi-Kakheti.

On June 21, 1811, the Holy Synod removed the rank of Catholicos-Patriarch from Anthony II (Teimuraz Bagrationi; 1762-21 December 1827).

From June 30, 1811 to March 1917 (de facto) the Church in Georgia had the status of the Georgian Exarchate of the Russian Church; The title of Catholicos was abolished. The first exarch on July 8, 1811 was Varlaam Eristavi (Prince Eristov) (August 30, 1814 - May 14, 1817; March 20, 1825 was appointed manager of the Danilov Monastery; † December 18, 1830). By the end of the 1810s, the Abkhaz Catholicosate was also abolished.

Subsequently, exarchs were appointed from non-Georgian bishops, which often led to friction with the local clergy and excesses, such as the murder of Exarch Nikon (Sofia) on May 28, 1908 in the building of the Georgian-Imereti Synodal Office.

Monastery Javari Churches and temples of Georgia

History of Georgian Temple Architecture

The history of Georgian temple architecture is approximately 1500 years old, to be exact 1536 years (at the moment). This era is divided into separate periods with their own characteristics. At the same time, unlike the Russian one, the Georgian one was more conservative, did not go into experiments, and not everyone can distinguish a church of the 6th century from a church of the 18th century. Georgia did not know Gothic, Baroque, and modernism did not particularly take root.

Of the surviving temples, the earliest was built in 477, although there are contenders for an earlier chronology. Temples of the pagan era have not been preserved, although there is something that claims to belong to Zoroastrianism. From the pagan temples in some places there were only foundations, according to which it is difficult to determine something.

The largest one is probably the foundation of the Zoroastrian temple near the Nekresi monastery.

Christian churches in Georgia cost two types - basilica and domed church. The basilica, if anyone does not know, is a quadrangular building with a gable roof. The domed building is slightly more complex in design. There are hybrids: for example, the Church of the Nativity in the Shio-Mgvime monastery was built as a dome, then the dome collapsed and the temple was completed as a basilica. The Dormition Cathedral in the Khobsky Monastery is a rare case of a cross church: there is no dome here, but still it is not a basilica.

CATHEDRAL IN TBILISI

Tsminda Sameba - Cathedral of the Holy Trinity - the main cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church, built for the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Christ on the hill of St. Ilya in the very center of Tbilisi. Tsminda Sameba Cathedral is the third highest Orthodox church in the world.

Myths and facts

The idea of ​​building a new cathedral arose in 1989, when the Patriarchate of Tbilisi announced an architectural competition for the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. The work of architect Archil Mindiashvili was chosen from hundreds of submitted projects.

The plan of the Holy Trinity complex included a church, a chapel, a monastery, a seminary, an academy, a hotel and other auxiliary buildings. The authorities of Tbilisi have allocated 11 hectares of land on the hill of St. Ilya. But due to unrest in the country, the construction of a grandiose temple was postponed.

In 1995, the first cornerstone was finally laid. According to ancient tradition, objects brought from holy places were placed at the base of the foundation: stones from Mount Zion and the Jordan River, earth from Jerusalem and the graves of St. by their own names.

Tbilisi Tsminda Sameba has become a symbol of new achievements of Georgia and the consolidation of the nation. Funds for construction were collected by the whole world: some donations, some help in construction, many enterprises provided building materials and necessary equipment.

For several years, the golden dome of a huge cathedral has grown over old Tbilisi, more than 100 meters high (without a domed cross 98 meters and a cross 7.5 meters), with a total area of ​​​​more than 5000 square meters and a capacity of 15 thousand parishioners. The consecration of the cathedral took place in 2004, exactly 9 years after the laying on the day of St. George by the Patriarch of Georgia Ilia II.

Ananuri Churches and temples of Georgia

CHURCHES AND CHURCHES OF GEORGIA

Georgia is a country of stone architecture. With such a history, if in Georgia they built from wood, the traces of the ashes would long and irrevocably be overgrown and lost.

Georgia did not need to build pyramids - nature did it for her. It remains for man to crown the natural pyramid. And, I think, it will not be a big exaggeration on my part to say that in Georgia, on almost every more or less high hill, you can see either a fortress or a temple.

A few years ago

Where merging, they make noise,

Hugging like two sisters

Jets of Aragva and Kura,

There was a monastery...

M.Yu. Lermontov

In fact, not a few years, but almost 16 centuries ... there was and is a temple, one of the oldest and most beautiful in the Caucasus. But Kura and Aragvi really merge there, murmur tirelessly and affectionately, as the poet described.

Sometimes even the border between the clay waters of the Kura and the greenish waters of the Aragvi can be seen with the naked eye, as in the photo.

Aragvi and Kura Churches and temples of Georgia

Amazing, incredible place. A place where space opens up. In recent years, groups of tourists have been almost continuously present in Jvari, which, of course, distracts and spoils the impression, so I allow myself to give two pieces of advice - go up to the temple early in the morning, while there are still not many people, and be sure to go up on foot. Believe me, it's worth it.

Manglisi Churches and temples of Georgia

What a priceless testament

has been left to us for centuries!

And limitless light

and harmonious stone.

G. Tabidze

One of the most beautiful churches in Georgia (although, in my opinion, they are all beautiful) is Manglisi (Temple of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary).

barakoni

Georgian temples amaze with their ideal incorporation into the surrounding nature, harmony with it. They do not overwhelm with grandeur, like the Gothic cathedrals of Europe, they do not sparkle with the richness of colors and the gilding of the domes of the East. Their simplicity is multidimensional and ingenious, it gives an incomparable feeling of the unity of man and nature with the Creator of all things.

Katskhis shine

Medieval Georgian architects created, adapting to the relief, merging into it, no matter how diverse and amazing it was.

The small church of Maximus the Confessor was built in the 9th century on a natural rocky island known as Katskhis Sveti.

Vanis Kvavebi Churches and temples of Georgia

Chapel in a rock crevice (Vanis Kvavebi, VIII century).

Monastery complex David Gareja.

Masonry tortures the eye

like hiding a treasure.

rock lace

ironed by whom?

Who made the music?

The one who rocks

re-conjured

in church...

G. Tabidze

The seeming simplicity and poverty of the decoration, when approached, turn into such music in stone. Conquerors came and went, taking with them gold and silver, priceless icons and relics. The stone remains. It often remained the only visible confirmation of its former glory and greatness.

Nikortsminda

Who painted you

fed with a brush, loving,

nurtured, pored,

Church of Nikortsminda

G. Tabidze

Actually, all the verses of Galaktion quoted above and below in the text are taken from the praise of her - the church of Nikortsminda (St. Nicholas, built in 1010-1014). Murals, unlike stone patterns, are much more fragile and much is irretrievably lost or irretrievably damaged. The frescoes burned in the flames of the conflagrations, they were painted over, "decorated" with inscriptions like "Vasya was here." The little that has been preserved in Betania, Bodbe, Bugeuli, Vardzia, Gelati, Kintsvisi, Nikortsminda makes one marvel equally at the strength of the human genius and his own barbaric aggressiveness.

Kvatakhevi dome Churches and temples of Georgia

Exactly twelve lamps

looking out of twelve windows.

What kind of fires are burning

in your high house?

G. Tabidze

Some temples are equipped with sundials. Small, inconspicuous, but making it clear that in addition to harmony with the relief and the spatial orientation of the structures, their creators provided for much more.

Shio-Mgvime Churches and temples of Georgia

The master was bold and strict:

this fire - guarded in the soul,

soul - saved between the walls

Church of Nikortsminda.

G. Tabidze

Sometimes not only the soul was invested in the construction. But more on that later...

Svetitskhoveli Churches and temples of Georgia

Your thunder-winged temple

Its vaults are unshakable,

Years keep it

The columns sing loudly.

G. Tabidze

The eleventh century begins in the bosom of Svetitskhoveli...

This temple is always beautiful. In the morning, illuminated by the sun, it casts the color of a lizard; by sunset all washed with gold; and at dusk, when the vault of stars looks at it, its contours, full of severe harmony, seem to cut through the sky.

An unknown craftsman carved on the wall an image of a man's right hand holding a square. The signature under it reads: "The hand of the slave Konstantin Arsakidze, for the remission of sins."

Near this inscription is a figure of a beardless young man dressed in a Georgian chokha.

That beardless one over there is Konstantin Arsakidze, the builder of Svetitskhoveli. I'll show you a picture of another person...

He brought an ancient Georgian coin. It depicted a rider with a hawk on his right shoulder. The inscription on the back of the coin, made in capital letters, read: "The King of Kings George is the sword of the Messiah."

That's all...

K. Gamsakhurdia

Look to the right! the tour guide woke up. - In front of us - Svetitskhoveli! ... The architect who built this cathedral, by order of the king, cut off the right hand ...

Why so? Nestor asked.

Intrigue... Someone denounced him...

Did you misappropriate building materials? - said the driver.

N. Dumbadze

All over the world there are legends about architects who were punished instead of rewarded for creating a masterpiece. Daedalus, locked in the labyrinth he created, the blinded creators of St. Basil's Cathedral, the severed hand of Konstantin Arsakidze - phenomena (or myths) of the same order, carrying an ancient, sacred meaning - the creation of a masterpiece the creator must suffer, balance his gift with a great sacrifice and great suffering.

Although, for customers, probably, the meaning was much more prosaic, and consisted in not paying builders for the work performed.

Martkopi Churches and temples of Georgia

Wings, wings for us,

Forces - living wings,

Rule the space, temple,

G. Tabidze

Martkopi Monastery, standing alone on top, among the forests. The very name "Martkopi" means "secluded".

Motsameta

Martkopi's brother in secluded location and architecture is Motsameta Monastery (Martyrs David and Constantine). One (Martkopi) is located in Eastern Georgia, the other (Motsameta) is in Western Georgia.

Alaverdi

Would be higher! - to the cloud

to the highest good

tearing wings

blue, strong.

G. Tabidze

The Cathedral of St. George, or colloquially Alaverdi, built at the beginning of the 11th century, is the most grandiose building of medieval Georgia. The cathedral is visible from almost all parts of the Alazani Valley, in the middle of which it stands, its height, a record for all Georgian architecture located in an earthquake-prone region - 50 meters. The word "Alaverdi" is of Turkic-Arabic origin and is translated as "given by God". Around the temple, with the exception of the fortress wall, there are only ruins: the remains of a palace, a refectory, a bell tower, a garrison barracks and even a public bath.

There are two main temple holidays in Georgia - Svetitskhovloba (October 14) and Alaverdoba (September 28). Alaverdoba - the temple holiday of Alaverdi - has been celebrated since the 6th century. From the point of view of church tradition, the holiday is dedicated to the founder of Alaverdi Joseph, one of the 13 Syrian fathers who laid the foundation for the tradition of monasticism in Georgia. From the point of view of history and the peasants, who from time immemorial on this day brought the fruits of the new harvest to the temple, held races and arranged sacrifices - this is rather an ancient pagan harvest festival, combined with church history and in this form continued to exist already in the Christian era.

Gergeti Sameba

Let the ages go by

and generations past

hidden from view

my shelter.

I. Abashidze

If Alaverdi is the highest church in Georgia, then the Church of the Holy Trinity (Sameba) in Gergeti is the highest. The church was erected at an altitude of 2170 meters, presumably in the XIV century. The background for the temple is almost always covered with snow and ice mountain Mkinvartsveri (better known in Russia as Kazbek).

In historical chronicles, the Gergeti Trinity is sometimes called the "repository of the Mtskheta treasure" - during raids and wars, the main Georgian shrine - the Cross of St. Nino was raised here along steep mountain paths in order to protect from invaders.

In one of the caves high in the mountains, a treasure with church manuscripts was found - one of the monks picked it up and hid it there. The mountains have always been a home, protection, refuge, native walls for the people of Georgia.

But they didn't always save...

Kvatakhevi

Wild forests climbed the steps of the mountains. Sheer cliffs interrupted the persistent raids of enemies, and, tempted by this guard, King David the Builder erected the Kvatakhevsky Monastery above the steepness.

Kings changed, centuries fled ...

But one day a yellow storm swept in... And the bells prayed for help, but broken Georgia lay under the blue boots of the merciless Timurleng... in vain the bells begged, in vain arrows whistled from the loopholes, in vain the corpses defended the entrance to the monastery. Heavy gates fell. A yellow stream poured into them ...

A.A. Antonovskaya

The nuns were tied all together and burned alive, the monastery was plundered. Since then female leg never set foot in Kvatakhevi again. Only men are allowed to enter.

I never understood why it was necessary to make a fire out of already defenseless women. Just as I don’t understand those people who call their sons Tamerlanes, in honor of the lame, bloodthirsty freak. How I do not understand the medieval church hierarchs who decided not to let a single woman into the monastery anymore, in order to avoid desecrating the memory of innocently murdered nuns.

Martvili

How far, but still visible

Martvili, unreached Martvili,

The high white verse of the Odishi mountains.

I. Abashidze

A very nice little church of the 10th century Mtsire Chikvani (Martvili Monastery). Its roofs and dome are covered with tiles. In many other churches, since Soviet times, for reasons of economy, the roofs have been covered with metal. It seems to me that the tile looks much better, more gentle, more harmonious.

Ninotsminda

And again laying. Embossed this time. Such masonry is typical for Eastern Georgia (Gremi, Signagi, Bodbe). And another one salient feature- a dome made of the same material as the walls. Built in the 6th century, the temple complex was badly damaged by an earthquake in the first half of the 19th century.

Tsugrugasheni

The creation of the reign of Lasha-George, completed after the first appearance of the Mongols in Georgia (1213-1222). According to the ktitor inscription, it was built by a certain Khasan Arsenidze. The last flashes of light before plunging into the darkness of the eight-hundred-year-old abyss of almost continuous invasions and devastation. Further, more and more often it was necessary not to build, but to restore.

Above the steep Metekhi rock, where Gorgasali, now seated on a stone horse, with his raised right hand, warns drivers to be careful at the turn and from where in the old days the desperate Tbilisians made their last journey in life - with a stone around their neck into the muddy waters of Mtkvari, Metekhi Castle used to be ( the word "castle" here should be understood in the sense of "prison").

N. Dumbadze

The name of the quarter - Metekhi - appeared in the XII century and means "around the palace". In the temple there is a burial place of St. Shushanik, the first Christian martyr of Georgia, an Armenian by origin. And next to Metekhi in 1961, a monument was erected to the founder of the city, King Vakhtang Gorgasali.

Metekhi temple, built in 1278-84. under King Demeter II the Self-Sacrifice, at first it was the palace church of the Georgian kings, since the 17th century it was located on the territory of the fortress, with the annexation of Georgia to Russia, the fortress was converted into a prison, and in the middle of the 20th century the prison was demolished.

The temple itself was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt again. In the XIII century, the Mongols razed the church to the ground, but it was quickly restored. In the 15th century it was destroyed by the Persians, and in the 16th-17th centuries it was constantly rebuilt by the Georgian kings. During the time of Beria, during the demolition of the fortress-prison, they also wanted to demolish the church (for protests against its demolition, the artist Dmitry Shevardnadze paid with his life, so in this part the plot of "Repentance" is documented).

Metekhi

And immediately the bells of Tbilisi churches rang out. Each ringer called the bell phrases of his temple.

Kar... aphid... I... whether... I... Kar... aphid... I... whether... I, - the Anchiskhat church called back.

Egre ... iho ... egre ... ari ... Egre ... iho ... egre ... ari, - Zion Cathedral boomed.

Orders... mepes... mepes... orders... gamarjvebit... mepes... orders... - the Metekhi church was flooded.

A.A. Antonovskaya

Sioni Churches and temples of Georgia

So it was ... so it is ... - means the bell phrase of the Zion Cathedral in translation. Sioni costs almost as much as Tbilisi - since the 5th century - and all these one and a half millennia shares the fate of the city.

The first temple on this site was demolished by the Arabs. After the liberation of Tbilisi from the Arabs in 1112, Sioni was rebuilt. In 1226, the city was captured by the Shah of Khorezm, Jalal-ad-Din. The Shah ordered the dome to be removed from Sioni, the icons to be thrown on the bridge and the residents of Tbilisi to be forced to walk across them. One hundred thousand martyrs who refused to cross the shrines, Georgia annually commemorates November 13 on the Metekhi bridge, where the severed heads of the executed flew to Mtkvari (Kura).

Tamerlane destroyed the Tbilisi Sioni at the end of the 14th century, but the church was restored.

In 1522, by order of Shah Ishmael, the icon of the Mother of God was taken out of Sioni and thrown into the river. The icon was found and returned to the cathedral. In 1724 the icon was stolen again, this time by the Muslim ruler of Kakheti, Ali Kuli Khan.

In 1668, the temple was badly damaged by an earthquake, but was rebuilt again.

In 1726, the Turkish Sultan ordered Sioni to be turned into a mosque. Prince Givi Amilakhvari managed to convince the Sultan to abandon his intention at the cost of expensive gifts.

After the invasion of the Persians under the leadership of Aga Mohammed Khan in 1795, the cathedral was restored by Prince Tsitsianov. Minai Medici, who visited Sioni in 1817, wrote that "it is vast and magnificent, painted inside with pictures from the Bible." Some of the frescoes in the temple were made by the Russian artist G.G. Gagarin.

Sioni has stood and will stand as long as Tbilisi stands, as long as the faith of the people is alive. The Cross of St. Nino is kept here.

Bagrati temple

Bachana removed his hand from the pulse and placed it over his heart. The heart was silent...

So you had only ischemia of the posterior wall, and he did not have a wall, but the ruins of Bagrati!

N. Dumbadze

Bagrati is the second of the four cathedrals of medieval Georgia (the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin), built in the 10th century by King Bagrat III and blown up by Turkish troops in 1691.

In 2007, it was decided to recreate the temple. It is to recreate, because what is left of it does not in any way fit the cautious concept of "reconstruction". At the first stage of work, a female burial was found, judging by the abundance of jewelry, belonging to a person royal blood. It was even suggested that the tomb of Queen Tamar was finally discovered, but the burial turned out to be ancient (VIII century).

The Bagrati Temple was included in the UNESCO list of World Cultural Heritage Sites, and it was thanks to this fact that the reconstruction was suspended twice. The reason for the first stop in 2010 was the use of new modern materials, which contradicts the very concept of preserving the cultural heritage in its original form. The reason for the second stop was the appearance of a glass elevator in the layout.

Another of the key problems of the reconstruction was that no images have been preserved that give a clear idea of ​​what the western wing of the temple, which was most badly destroyed by the explosion, looked like. There are also supporters of conserving the ruins, but it seems to me that it would be better to have an elevator than that.

In September 2012, the main stage of restoration work was completed.

I cannot but recall the first of the four cathedrals - Oshki (Cathedral of John the Baptist). Built in the 10th century, a little earlier than Bagrati and Manglisi, this beautiful temple is very similar in style to them. Alas, now located in Turkey, the temple is slowly dying. All negotiations between the government and the Catholicos-Patriarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church have not yet led to a positive decision. The Turkish authorities refuse not only to allow the clergy to serve, but even to allow Georgia to carry out restoration at its own expense.

______________________________________________________________________________________

SOURCE OF INFORMATION AND PHOTO:

Team Nomads.

http://world.lib.ru/d/dia/georgian_temples.shtml

Joerj, Alexey Mukhranov,

Irina Kalatozishvili, Skitalac, taki-net, tetri info,

World monument fund, Ivane Goliadze, paata.ge,

Paata Liparteliani, Tina Sitnikova.

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Chapter I. Georgian Orthodox Church

The jurisdiction of the Georgian Orthodox Church extends to Georgia. However, “it is customary in the Georgian Church to believe,” testifies Metropolitan of Sukhumi-Abkhazia (now Catholicos-Patriarch) Ilia, in his answer of August 18, 1973 to the letter of inquiry from the author of this work, “that the jurisdiction of the Georgian Church extends not only to the borders of Georgia, but to all Georgians, wherever they live. An indication of this should be considered the presence in the title of the Primate of the word "Catholicos".

Georgia is a state located between the Black and Caspian Seas. From the west it is washed by the waters of the Black Sea, it has common borders with Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey.

Area - 69.700 sq. km.

Population - 5.201.000 (in 1985).

The capital of Georgia is Tbilisi (1.158.000 inhabitants in 1985).

History of the Georgian Orthodox Church

1. The most ancient period in the history of the Georgian Orthodox Church

:

baptism of Georgians; concerns of the rulers of Georgia about the structure of the Church; the question of autocephaly; the ruin of the Church by the Mohammedans and Persians; defenders of the Orthodox people- clergy and monasticism; Catholic propaganda; establishment of the AbkhazCatholicosate; appeal for help to united Russia

The first preachers of the Christian faith on the territory of Georgia (Iveria), according to legend, were the holy apostles Andrew the First-Called and Simon the Zealot. “We think that these traditions,” writes Gobron (Mikhail) Sabinin, a researcher of the ancient history of his Church, “have the same right to be heard and taken into consideration as the traditions of other Churches (for example, Greek, Russian, Bulgarian, etc.) , and that the fact of the direct apostolic founding of the Georgian Church can be proved on the basis of these traditions with the same degree of probability with which it is proved in relation to other Churches, on the basis of similar facts. One of the Georgian chronicles tells the following about the embassy of the holy Apostle Andrew to Iberia: “After the Lord ascended to Heaven, the Apostles with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, gathered in the Zion room, where they awaited the coming of the promised Comforter. Here the Apostles cast lots as to where to go with the preaching of the Word of God. During the throwing of lots Holy Virgin Mary said to the Apostles: “I also desire to take the lot with you, so that I also have a country that God Himself will give Me.” Lots were cast, according to which the Blessed Virgin went to the inheritance of Iberia. The Lady with great joy accepted Her inheritance and was already ready to go there with the word of the gospel, when just before Her departure, the Lord Jesus appeared to Her and said: “My mother, I will not reject Your lot and I will not leave Your people without participation in heavenly good; but send the First-Called Andrew instead of Yourself to Your inheritance. And send with him Your image, which will be depicted by attaching the board prepared for that to Your face. That image will replace You and serve as the guardian of Your people forever. After this divine appearance, the Blessed Virgin Mary called the holy Apostle Andrew to Herself and conveyed to him the words of the Lord, to which the Apostle only replied: “The holy will of Your Son and Yours will be forever.” Then the Most Holy One washed Her face, demanded a board, put it to Her face, and the image of the Lady with Her Eternal Son in her arms was reflected on the board.

On the verge of the 1st-2nd centuries, according to the testimony of the historian Baronius, the Tauride Saint Clement, Bishop of Rome, sent by Emperor Trajan into exile in Chersonese, "led to the gospel truth and salvation" of local residents. “A little later than this time,” adds the historian of the Georgian Church, Plato Iosselian, “the natives of Colchian Palm, Bishop of Pontus, and his son, the heretic Marcion, against whose delusions Tertullian armed himself, arose in the Colchis Church.”

In subsequent years, Christianity was supported "firstly ... by Christian missionaries who came out of the border Christian provinces ... secondly ... the frequent clashes between Georgians and Christian Greeks favored and introduced the pagan Georgians to Christian teachings."

The mass baptism of Georgians took place at the beginning of the 4th century thanks to the Equal-to-the-Apostles labors of St. Nina (born in Cappadocia), to whom the Mother of God appeared in a dream vision, handed over a cross made of vines and said: “Go to the Iberian country and preach the Gospel; I will be your patroness." Waking up, Saint Nina kissed the miraculously received cross and tied it up with her hair.

Arriving in Georgia, St. Nina soon attracted the attention of the people with her holy life, as well as many miracles, in particular, the healing of the queen from illness. When King Mirian (O 42), having been in danger while hunting, called for the help of the Christian God and received this help, having safely returned home, he accepted Christianity with his whole house and himself became a preacher of the teachings of Christ among his people. In 326 Christianity was proclaimed the state religion. King Mirian built a temple in the name of the Savior in the capital of the state - Mtskheta, and on the advice of St. Nina sent envoys to St. Constantine the Great, asking him to send a bishop and clergy. Bishop John, sent by Saint Constantine, and the Greek priests continued the conversion of the Georgians. The successor of the famous king Mirian, King Bakar (342-364), also worked hard in this field. Under him, some liturgical books were translated from Greek into Georgian. The foundation of the Tsilkan diocese is associated with his name.

Georgia reached its power in the 5th century under King Vakhtang I Gorgaslan, who ruled the country for fifty-three years (446-499). Successfully defending the independence of his homeland, he did a lot for his Church. Under him, the Mtskheta temple, which collapsed at the beginning of the 5th century, was rebuilt, dedicated to the Twelve Apostles.

With the transfer of the capital of Georgia from Mtskheta to Tiflis, Vakhtang I laid the foundation of the famous Zion Cathedral, which exists to this day, in the new capital.

Under King Vakhtang I, according to Georgian historians, 12 episcopal departments were opened.

By the care of his mother Sandukhta - the widow of King Archil I (413 - 434) - around the year 440, the books of the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament were first translated into Georgian.

In the middle of the 6th century, a number of churches were built in Georgia, and an archbishop's see was established in Pitsunda.

Somewhat difficult due to the lack required documents is the question of the time when the Georgian Orthodox Church received autocephaly.

The famous Greek canonist of the 12th century, Patriarch Theodore Balsamon of Antioch, commenting on the 2nd canon of the Second Ecumenical Council, says: “The decision of the Antioch Council honored the independence of the Archbishop of Iberia. They say that in the days of Mr. Peter, His Holiness Patriarch Theopolis, i.e. Great Antioch, there was a conciliar order that the Church of Iberia, then subordinate to the Patriarch of Antioch, be free and independent (autocephalous).”

This vague phrase of Balsamon is understood in different ways. Some tend to think that the definition was under Patriarch Peter II of Antioch (5th century), others - under Patriarch Peter III (1052-1056). Hence, the announcement of autocephaly is attributed to different periods. For example, the Locum Tenens of the Moscow Patriarchal Throne, Metropolitan Pimen of Krutitsy and Kolomna, in his message dated August 10, 1970 addressed to Patriarch Athenagoras (correspondence on the occasion of the granting of autocephaly to the Orthodox Church in America) wrote that the independence of the Church of Iveria "was established by her Mother - the Church of Antioch - in 467 (see Balsamon's interpretation of Canon 2 of the Second Ecumenical Council about this)." The former Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop Jerome, on the issue of the time of the proclamation of autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church, is inclined to think that in 556 the decision of this issue by Antioch

The Synod was still not final, and in 604 this decision was recognized by other Patriarchs. “The fact,” he wrote, “that the autocephalous status of the Church of Iberia was not recognized by all the other Holy Churches until 604, is clear evidence that the decision of the Synod of Antioch was nothing more than a proposal on this issue and temporary approval, without which , however, secession of any part of the jurisdiction of the Patriarchal Throne would never be the object of attempts. In any case, we agree with the opinion that the decision of the Synod in Antioch and the recognition by the rest of the Churches of the autocephalous status of the Church of Iberia, unjustifiably belated for unknown reasons, seem historically completely unclear.

According to the calendar of the Greek Orthodox Church for 1971, the autocephaly of the Georgian Orthodox Church was proclaimed by the Sixth Ecumenical Council, and "since 1010

the head of the Georgian Church bears the following title: His Holiness and Beatitude Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia. The first Catholicos-Patriarch was Melchizedek I (1010-1045).” And Archbishop Vasily (Krivoshey) of Brussels and Belgium declares: “The Georgian Orthodox Church, which has been dependent on the Patriarchate of Antioch since the 5th century, has been autocephalous since the 8th century, and became Patriarch in 1012, and since then its head has the traditional title of “Catholicos- Patriarch", was deprived of autocephaly in 1811 by a unilateral act of the Russian imperial power, after Georgia was included in Russia" .

Georgian church leaders (Bishop Kirion - later Catholicos-Patriarch, Hierodeacon Elijah - now Catholicos-Patriarch) believe that until 542 the Mtskheta-Iberian Primates were confirmed in their rank and rank by the Patriarch of Antioch, but since that time the Church of Iberia was a charter of the Greek Emperor Justinian recognized as autocephalous. This was done with the consent of Patriarch Mina of Constantinople, as well as all the other Eastern First Hierarchs, and was approved by a special decision of the Sixth Ecumenical Council, which decreed: equal to the Patriarchs and have command over the archbishops, metropolitans and bishops in the entire Georgian region.

Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia David V (1977) on the issue of the time of declaring autocephaly of the Georgian Church expresses the same opinion as the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church. “In the 5th century,” he says, “under the famous king Vakhtang Gorgaslan, the founder of Tbilisi, autocephaly was granted to our Church.”

Priest K. Tsintsadze, specifically studying the issue of the autocephaly of his Church, as if summarizing all of the above, claims that the Georgian Church was almost independent since the time of Tsar Mirian, but received full autocephaly only in the XI century from the Council of metropolitans, bishops and noble Antiochians, convened by Patriarch Peter III of Antioch. Here are his words: “The council chaired by Patriarch Peter, taking into account ... the fact that a) Georgia was “enlightened” by the preaching of the two Apostles, b) since the time of Tsar Mirian it has been ruled by almost independent archbishops, c) since the time of Tsar Vakhtang Gorgaslan ( 499); Georgia, which, however, did not entail any special unrest, f) from the time of Patriarch (Antioch. - K.S.) Theophylact (750), the Georgians received the formal right to appoint themselves Catholicos at the Councils of their bishops in Georgia - and that the Georgian Catholicos were worried mainly intervention

Patriarchal exarchs and abbots in the affairs of their Church”, finally, also taking into account the fact that “modern Georgia is the only Orthodox state in the East (moreover, it is quite powerful and well-organized), therefore it does not want to endure extraneous guardianship ... granted the Georgian Church full autocephaly. “None of the subsequent Patriarchs of Theopolis,” concludes Priest K. Tsintsadze, “disputed this independence from the Georgian Church, and starting from the eleventh century (more precisely, from 1053), she enjoyed this independence uninterruptedly until 1811.” A generalizing judgment on the issue of the time of obtaining the autocephaly of the Georgian Church is also the opinion of the Metropolitan of Sukhumi-Abkhazia (now the Catholicos-Patriarch) Ilia. In the above-mentioned letter dated August 18, 1973, he says: “Autocephaly is a complex issue and requires a lot of painstaking work with manuscripts, most of which have not yet been published... The history of the Georgian Church says that the official act of granting autocephaly to the Georgian Church dates back to the middle of the 5th century, at the time of the primacy of Patriarch Peter II of Antioch (Knafei) and the Georgian Catholicos-Archbishop Peter I. Of course, the Church of Antioch could not immediately grant all the rights of the Georgian Autocephalous Church. Conditions were set: the commemoration of the name of the Patriarch of Antioch at divine services, the annual material tribute from the Georgian Church, the taking of the Holy Myrrh from Antioch, etc. All these issues were resolved in subsequent times. Therefore, historians differ in their opinions regarding the time of granting autocephaly.

So, the Georgian Church received autocephaly in the 5th century from the Church of Antioch, under whose legal subordination it was. The Georgian Church has never been legally subordinate to the Church of Constantinople. On the Black Sea coast of Georgia, after the preaching of the holy apostles Andrew the First-Called and Simon the Zealot, many adopted Christianity; dioceses were even founded here. In the acts of the First Ecumenical Council, among other bishops, Stratofil, Bishop of Pitsunda, and Domnos, Bishop of Trebizond, are mentioned. There is evidence from subsequent centuries that the dioceses of Western Georgia for some time were subject to the See of Constantinople.

What was the situation in Eastern Georgia?

King Mirian, after the sermon and miracles of St. Nina, having believed in Christ, sends a delegation to Constantinople with a request to send the clergy. Saint Mirian could not avoid Constantinople and the emperor, since this was not only a religious question, but also an act of great political significance. Who arrived from Constantinople? There are two opinions. 1. According to the chronicle “Kartlis tskhovrebo” and the history of Vakhushti, Bishop John, two priests and three deacons arrived from Constantinople. 2. According to the testimony of Ephraim the Minor Philosopher (XI century) and at the direction of the Ruiss-Urbnis Cathedral (1103), the Patriarch of Antioch Eustathius arrived in Georgia at the order of Emperor Constantine, who installed the first bishop in Georgia and performed the first baptism of Georgians.

Most likely, these two information complement each other. It can be assumed that Patriarch Eustathius of Antioch arrived in Constantinople, where he received appropriate instructions from the emperor and ordained Bishop John, priests and deacons. Then he arrived in Georgia and founded the Church. Since that time, the Georgian Church entered the jurisdiction of the See of Antioch.”

It is natural to believe that from the time of autocephalous existence, the Iberian Church, headed and led by the Georgians, should have entered a phase of gradual improvement. However, this did not happen, because. Georgia was forced already at the dawn of its independent church life to begin a centuries-old bloody struggle against Islam, the bearer of which was primarily the Arabs.

In the VIII century, the whole country was subjected to terrible devastation by the Arabs, led by Murvan. The rulers of Eastern Imereti, the Argveti princes David and Konstantin, courageously met the advance detachments of Murvan and were about to defeat him. But Murvan moved all his forces against them. After the battle, the brave princes were taken prisoner, subjected to severe torture and thrown off a cliff into the river Rion (Comm. 2 October).

By the 10th century, Islam had been planted in a number of places in Georgia, but not among the Georgians themselves. According to the priest Nikandr Pokrovsky, referring to the message of the Arab writer Masudi, in 931 the Ossetians destroyed their Christian churches and adopted Mohammedanism.

In the 11th century, countless hordes of Seljuk Turks invaded Georgia, destroying churches, monasteries, settlements and the Orthodox Georgians themselves on their way.

The position of the Iberian Church changed only with the accession to the royal throne of David IV the Builder (1089-1125), an intelligent, enlightened and God-fearing ruler. David IV put the church life in order, built temples and monasteries. In 1103, he convened a Council, at which the Orthodox confession of faith was approved and the canons concerning the behavior of Christians were adopted. Under him, “the long silent mountains and valleys of Georgia resounded again with the solemn ringing of church bells, and instead of sobs, songs of cheerful villagers were heard.”

In his personal life, according to Georgian chronicles, King David was distinguished by high Christian piety. His favorite pastime was reading spiritual books. He never parted with the Holy Gospel. The Georgians reverently buried their pious king in the Gelati monastery he created.

The zenith of Georgia's glory was the age of the famous great-granddaughter of David, the holy Queen Tamara (1184-1213). She was able not only to preserve what was under her predecessors, but also to expand her power from the Black to the Caspian Sea. The legendary tales of Georgia attribute almost all the remarkable monuments of the past of their people to Tamara, including many towers and churches on the tops of the mountains. Under her, a large number of enlightened people, orators, theologians, philosophers, historians, artists and poets appeared in the country. Works of spiritual, philosophical and literary content were translated into Georgian. However, with the death of Tamara, everything changed - she, as it were, took with her to the grave happy years of their homeland.

The Mongol-Tatars became a thunderstorm for Georgia, especially after they converted to Islam. In 1387, Tamerlane entered Kartalinia, bringing destruction and devastation with him. “Georgia then presented a terrible sight,” writes priest N. Pokrovsky. - Cities and villages - in ruins; corpses lay in heaps in the streets: the stench and stench of their decay infected the air and drove people away from their former dwellings, and only predatory animals and bloodthirsty birds feasted at such a meal. The fields were trampled and scorched, the people fled through the forests and mountains, and a human voice was not heard for a hundred miles. Those who escaped the sword died of hunger and cold, for a merciless fate befell not only the inhabitants themselves, but also all their property. It seemed that

a fiery river rushed through sad Georgia. Even after that, its sky is more than once illuminated by the glow of Mongolian fires, and the smoking blood of its ill-fated population marks the path of the formidable and cruel ruler of Samarkand in a long strip.

Following the Mongols, the Ottoman Turks brought suffering to the Georgians, the destruction of the shrines of their Church and the forced conversion of the peoples of the Caucasus to Islam. The Dominican John of Lucca, who visited the Caucasus around 1637, spoke of the life of its peoples in the following way: “The Circassians speak Circassian and Turkish; some of them are Mohammedans, others of the Greek religion. But Mohammedans are more ... Every day the number of Muslims is increasing.

A long series of disasters suffered by Georgia during its 1500-year history ended with a devastating invasion of

1795 by the Persian Shah Aga Mohammed. Among other cruelties, the shah ordered on the day of the Exaltation of the Cross of the Lord to seize all the clergy of Tiflis and throw them from a high bank into the Kura River. In terms of cruelty, this execution is equal to the bloody massacre committed in 1617, on Easter night, over the Gareji monks: by order of the Persian Shah Abbas, six thousand monks were hacked to death within a few moments. “The Kingdom of Georgia,” writes Plato Iosselian, “in the course of fifteen centuries does not represent almost a single reign that would not be marked either by an attack, or ruin, or cruel oppression by the enemies of Christ.”

In times of distress for Iveria, intercessors ordinary people monks and white clergy came out, strong in faith and hope in God, who themselves came out of the bowels of the Georgian people. Sacrificing their lives, they courageously defended the interests of their people. When, for example, the Turks who invaded Georgia seized the priest Theodore in Quelta and, under threat of death, demanded that he show them the place where the Georgian king was, this Georgian Susanin decided: “I will not sacrifice eternal life for the temporary, I will not be a traitor to the king ”and led the enemies into the impenetrable mountain jungle.

Another example of bold intercession for his people before the Muslim enslavers was shown by his act of Catholicos Domentius (XVIII century). Motivated by deep love for the holy Orthodox faith and for his fatherland, he appeared before the Turkish sultan in Constantinople with a bold intercession for his Church and for his people. The courageous defender was slandered at the Sultan's court, sent into exile on one of the Greek islands, where he died.

“It is hardly possible to find in the history of mankind any political or ecclesiastical society,” writes Bishop Kirion, “that would have made more sacrifices and shed more blood in defense of the Orthodox faith and the people than did the Georgian clergy and especially monasticism. Due to the enormous influence of Georgian monasticism on the fate of the native Church, its history has become an integral and most important part of Georgian church-historical life, its valuable adornment, without which the history of subsequent centuries would have been colorless, incomprehensible, lifeless.

But the Arabs, Turks and Persians inflicted mainly physical blows on Orthodox Georgia. At the same time, she was in danger from the other side - from the Catholic missionaries, who set the goal of converting Georgians to Catholicism and subordinating them to the Pope of Rome.

Starting from the 13th century - from the day Pope Gregory IX sent Dominican monks to Georgia in response to the request of Queen Rusudan (daughter of Queen Tamara) to provide military assistance in the fight against the Mongols - until the first decades of the 20th century, persistent Catholic propaganda was carried out in Georgia. “The popes - Nicholas IV, Alexander VI, Urban VIII and others,” writes Meliton Fomin-Tsagareli, “sent various admonishing messages to the Georgian kings, metropolitans and nobles, seeking to somehow persuade the Georgians to their religion, and Pope Eugene IV has finally he imagined that at the Council of Florence the desire of the Roman pontiffs would be realized by using the strongest convictions over the Georgian metropolitan; but all attempts by the Catholics to convince the Georgians to recognize their religion were in vain.

Even in 1920, a representative of the Catholic Church arrived in Tiflis, who proposed to Catholicos Leonid to accept the primacy of the pope. Despite the fact that his proposal was rejected, JB 1921 the Vatican appointed Bishop Moriondo as its representative for the Caucasus and Crimea. At the end of the same year, Rome appointed Bishop Smets to this position. Together with him, a large number of Jesuits arrived in Georgia, who roamed the ancient country, recommending themselves as archaeologists and paleographers, but in fact trying to find favorable ground for spreading the ideas of papism. Attempts by the Vatican and this time ended unsuccessfully. In 1924, Bishop Smeta left Tiflis and went to Rome.

The establishment of two catholicosates in Georgia in the 14th century in connection with the division of the country into two kingdoms - Eastern and Western - was also a violation of the order of church life. One of the Catholicoses had his residence in Mtskheta at the Cathedral of Sveti Tskhoveli and was called Kartalinsky, Kakhetian and Tiflis, and the other - first in Bichvint (in Abkhazia) at the Mother of God Cathedral, erected in the VI century by Emperor Justinian, and then, from 1657, in Kutaisi was called at first (since 1455) Abkhaz and Imereti, and after 1657 - Imereti and Abkhaz. When in 1783 the king of Kartalinsky and Kakhetian Heraclius II formally recognized the protection of Russia over Georgia, the Imeretino-Abkhazian Catholicos Maxim (Maxime II) retired to Kiev, where he died in 1795. The supreme administration of the Church of Western Georgia (Imereti, Guria, Mingrelia and Abkhazia) passed to the Metropolitan of Gaenat.

The difficult situation of the Orthodox Georgians forced them to ask for help from the same faith Russia. Beginning in the 15th century, these appeals did not stop until the accession of Georgia to Russia. In response to the request of the last kings - George XII (1798 -1800) in Eastern Georgia and Solomon II (1793 -1811) in Western - on September 12, 1801, Emperor Alexander I issued a manifesto, by which Georgia - first Eastern, and then Western - was finally annexed to Russia. “The delight of the Georgians,” writes Bishop Kirion, “when receiving this manifesto of accession is indescribable.

Everything was suddenly reborn and came to life in Georgia... Everyone rejoiced at the accession of Georgia to Russia.”

The memory of the courageous thousand-year struggle of the Georgian people with their many enemies is sung in Georgian folk tales, in the work of the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli (XII century), in the poems of King Archil II of Imereti and Kakheti (1647-1713).

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