Samtavisi Cathedral

Samtavisi is an eleventh-century Georgian Orthodox cathedral in eastern Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli, some 45 km from the nation's capital Tbilisi, near Igoeti village. The cathedral is now one of the centers of the Eparchy of Samtavisi and Gori of the Georgian Orthodox Church. The church is a typical example and the founder of the Georgian interpretation of the cross-in-square churches. It was built in the period of decorative and artistic bloom in the architecture of Georgia.

The cathedral is located on the left bank of the Lekhura River, some 11 km of the town of Kaspi. According to a Georgian tradition, the first monastery on this place was founded by the Assyrian missionary Isidore in 572 and later rebuilt in the 10th century. Neither of these buildings has survived however. The earliest extant structures date to the eleventh century, the main edifice being built in 1030 as revealed by a now lost stone inscription. The cathedral was built by a local bishop and a skillful architect Hilarion, the son of Vane Kanchaeli, who also authored the nearby church of Ashuriani. The Cathedral was heavily damaged by a series of earthquakes, when the dome and partially the western wall and the pillars collapsed. According to the inscription on the western façade, above the window, which says "The secondary builder of the temple was the daughter of king of the kings and the wife of Amilakhor, Gayane", the Cathedral was first partially reconstructed in the 15th-16th century. The noble Georgian family Amilakhvari played significant role in the history of the church. In 1679, Givi Amilakhvari and his wife ordered new frescoes to be painted by Samtavisi bishop Meliton, as documented by inscription on the apse fresco. It was reconstructed again in the 19th century by the architect Ripardi, when part of decorations were lost. For example, one of the two gryphons on eastern façade. The masterly decorated eastern façade is the only surviving original structure. Other alterations included removal of portals, widening and deepening of connections between the façade quadras.

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