The consecration and the opening ceremony of St. George Cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Georgian Diocese, will take place on October 31, which will be attended by top-rank officials of Armenia and Georgia, donors of the reconstruction project and the believers. Arthur Amirkhanyan, the Head of St. George reconstruction project, told Aravot.am that the renovation project of the 13th-century unique temple started in 2012. It was one of the key projects of the “Initiatives for the Development of Armenia” (IDeA) foundation, supported by the Governments of Armenia and Georgia and the blessing of the Catholicos of All Armenians.
The initiative of the Church restoration belongs to the IDeA co-founder Ruben Vardanyan, the temple was restored with the donations from philanthropists. The main donors are Albert Avdolyan, Sergey Sarkisov and Rusudan Makhashvili, Daniel Khachaturov, as well the Vardanyan family. St. Gevorg church having a major role in the life of Georgian Discose is one of the ancient churches in Tbilisi. Once, is was an Armenian medieval spiritual, cultural and educational center. In the 14-15 centuries, numerous manuscripts were created in the Church Bookstore that are now kept in Matenadaran. The remains of the Armenian celebrities, such as Sayat-Nova, painter George Bashinjaghyan, prominent commanders Michael Loris -Melikov, Arzas Ter-Ghukasov, Ivan Lazaryan and Boris Shelkovnikov, are buried in the churchyard of St. George Church.
Gohar HAKOBYAN
