1515

Agmashenebeli avenue is the main shopping and dining street of the right bank Tbilisi

Davit Agmashenebeli Avenue is named after David IV of Georgia and is located in an historic district of Tbilisi close to the left embankment of the Mtkvari River

Much of the area was built by the German contractor Friederich Vezel in the 1880s.

Davit Agmashenebeli Avenue is one of the most popular shopping streets in Tbilisi and recently underwent extensive restoration

Agmashenebeli Avenue is one of the main avenues in the historical part of Tbilisi, known for its 19th-century classical architecture.

Jvaris Mama church

Norashen Church

Sioni Cathedral

Norashen Holy Mother of God Church is a 15th-century Armenian church. In Soviet times the church was converted into a library.

The Church Norashen is located on Leselidze Street, flanked on the left by a Greek church (Jvaris Mama), now transformed into a Georgian orthodox one, on the right by the Georgian Church Sioni and a few more meters further down the synagogue and mosque. For centuries, the different confessions have lived side by side in peace and friendship.

Little Jvaris Mama stands on a site where a church has stood since the 5th century. The current incarnation dates from the 16th century and its interior is covered in recently restored frescoes in striking reds, golds and blues

Jvaris Mama church

Jvaris Mama church (left) and Norashen Holy Mother of God Church (Armenian)

Jvaris Mama church (left) and Norashen Holy Mother of God Church (Armenian)

Jvaris-Mama - this name comes from a Georgian church in Jerusalem. On this

very place there was a small temple in the

5th century  which was destroyed by Mongols' invasion.

The church was restored in the 16th century. During Aga-

Mohamed-Khan conquest it was

repeatedly demolished. Then it

was renewed in 1825.

Jvaris Mama church

Norashen Holy Mother of God

Jvaris Mama church

Jvaris Mama church frescoes

Jvaris Mama church frescoes

Jvaris Mama church

Jvaris Mama church

Tbilisi’s Sioni Cathedral of the Dormition bears

the name of Mount Zion at

Jerusalem

According to legend, the first church on this site was constructed by King Vakhtang Gorgasali in the fifth century and has been rebuilt several times since

The throne for the Georgian patriarch

The stone conostasis dates to the 1850s. It

replaced the wooden

iconostasis burned during the Persian 

invasion in 1795

The Tbilisi Sioni Cathedral was initially built in the 6th and 7th centuries. Since then, it has been destroyed by foreign invaders and reconstructed several times. The current church is based on a 13th-century version with some changes from the 17th to 19th centuries. The walls are covered with beautiful frescoes

Today Sioni is the residence of the Catholicos - the

Patriarch of Georgian

Christian church. There the greatest relic of Georgia , the cross of St.

Nino who established

Christianity on Georgian soil, is kept there. The cross is made of two grapevines

and is intertwined with the Saint's

hair according to the legend

Jvaris Mama church

Norashen Church

Sioni Cathedral

Text: InternetPictures: Internet Sanda FoişoreanuCopyright: All the images belong to their authors.

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanuhttps://plus.google.com/+SandaMichaela

Sound: Episcop Zenon & Quartet Kesane