Bagrati Cathedral

Bagrati Cathedral ბაგრატის ტაძარი
Bagrati Cathedral in 2014
Religion
Affiliation	Georgian Orthodox Church
Location
Location	Kutaisi, Imereti, Georgia
Shown within Georgia
Geographic coordinates	42°16′38″N 42°42′15″E / 42.2773°N 42.7043°E / 42.2773; 42.7043
Architecture
Type	Church
Style	Georgian
Completed	11th century
Dome(s)	1, rebuilt
Former UNESCO World Heritage Site
Official name: Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iv
Designated	1994 (18th session)
Delisted	2017
Reference no.	710
UNESCO Region	Europe and North America
Immovable Cultural Monument of National Significance of Georgia
Official name: Bagrati Cathedral
Designated	November 7, 2006; 17 years ago (2006-11-07)
Reference no.	591
Item Number in Cultural Heritage Portal	9897
Date of entry in the registry	October 3, 2007; 17 years ago (2007-10-03)

The Cathedral of the Dormition, or the Kutaisi Cathedral, more commonly known as Bagrati Cathedral (Georgian: ბაგრატი; ბაგრატის ტაძარი, or Bagratis tadzari), is an 11th-century cathedral in the city of Kutaisi, in the Imereti region of Georgia. A masterpiece of medieval Georgian architecture, the cathedral suffered heavy damage throughout centuries and was reconstructed to its present state through a gradual process starting in the 1950s, with controversial conservation works concluding in 2012. These works prompted UNESCO to include the cathedral on its list of endangered World Heritage Sites, and then to remove the church from the World Heritage list.

A distinct landmark in the scenery of central Kutaisi, the cathedral rests on the Ukimerioni Hill. It is considered one of the four Great Cathedrals of the Georgian Orthodox world.^{[citation needed]}

Bagrati Cathedral was built in the early years of the 11th century, during the reign of King Bagrat III, due to which it was called "Bagrati", i.e., Bagrat's cathedral. An inscription on the north wall reveals that the floor was laid in "chronicon 223", i.e., 1003. In 1692, it was devastated by a cannonball shot by Ottoman troops who had invaded the Kingdom of Imereti. The incident caused the cupola and ceiling to collapse.

William Lethaby called it "the finest of Georgian monuments".^[1]

Conservation and restoration works, as well as archaeological studies at the cathedral began in the 1950s under the leadership of a Georgian architect Vakhtang Tsintsadze. The restoration works headed by Tsintsadze were divided into six stages and continued for several decades through 1994.^[2] That same year in 1994 Bagrati Cathedral, together with the Gelati Monastery, was included in UNESCO's World Heritage Site list as a single entity. In 2001, ownership of the cathedral was transferred from the Georgian state to the Georgian Orthodox Church. Officially, the cathedral is dedicated to the Dormition of the Mother of God and holds its main feast day on Mariamoba. It is currently the cathedral seat of the Metropolitan of Kutaisi. There are regular religious services. There is a monastery on the grounds, and the hieromonks serve as cathedral clergy. It is a very popular location for weddings among the locals. It is also frequently used as a symbol of the city of Kutaisi, being one of its main tourist attractions.

In July 2010 UNESCO added Bagrati cathedral to its list of endangered world heritage sites in part because of the continuing reconstruction, which it feared would affect the structural integrity and authenticity of the site.^[3] Even before the reconstruction works, in 2008 ICOMOS was concerned about the deteriorating state of Bagrati, but it commended that any conservation efforts by the Government should not include a type of reconstruction which would affect the site's historical value.^[4] In 2011 UNESCO urged the Georgian government authorities to develop a rehabilitation strategy that would reverse some of the changes made to the site in recent years, but it acknowledged that these alterations may be "almost irreversible".^[5] In 2013, architect Andrea Bruno was awarded a Georgian state gold medal for his role in the Bagrati Cathedral reconstruction and was subsequently recognized for this project with the University of Ferrara Domus International Prize for Restoration and Conservation.^[6][7]

The restoration works of the cathedral were heavily criticized by UNESCO as "detrimental to its integrity and authenticity". In 2017, while Gelati Monastery was removed from UNESCO's list of heritage sites in danger, Bagrati Cathedral was removed from the list of World Heritage sites.^[8]

• George I of Georgia

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bagrati Cathedral.

• Gelati Monastery
• World Heritage Sites in Georgia
• World Heritage Sites in Danger