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"Georgia Today "
SIONI SOLDIERS ON
In the first of a weekly column John Wright presents a historical guide to hotspots and lesser-known sites in Tbilisi. This week:Tbilisi's spiritual home Sioni. With Georgian Orthodox Easter upon us many may venture to Sioni Cathedral. One of Tbilisi's most sacred sites, Sioni stands at the southeast corner of Irakli II Square. The original church was started in 500 during the reign of King Guaram of Kartli/Iberia and completed in 620 when King Adarnese I ruled over the country. The original dome of the cathedral was destroyed following the invasion of the city by Jalal al-Din in 1226. Successive invaders, Tamarlaine in the fourteenth century and the Persians under Shah Ismail in 1522 and Shah Abbas in the seventeenth century again caused damage. In the eighteenth century the conquering Turks even attempted to turn the cathedral into a mosque. Yet despite all the havoc and destruction, Sioni has survived and now may be seen as a symbol for the city as a whole. The essential structure dates from Georgia's Golden Age of the thirteenth century. Each time the building has been damaged, renovation work has brought it back to its previous state or added to it. Under the direction of archbishop Elisei Saghinashvili in 1657 a southern chapel was added as well as extensive renovation of the cupola. Some sixty years later in 1710 during the reign of Vakhtang VI, many of the exterior walls were restored and the dome rebuilt. In the early nineteenth century further renovation was conducted as a result of which the Western facade was coated and in 1826 damaged frescoes were restored. In 1860 extensive interior work was carried out. Using the designs of Grigory Gagarin the whole church was re-painted. Gagarin was a notable Russian painter, architect and diplomat who not only displayed his talents in Sioni but also composed a number of landscapes of Tbilisi. His works adorn a number of editions of Alexandre Dumas' celebrated account of his adventure in the Caucasus, Impressions de Voyage au Caucase. Today Gagarin's frescoes are visible in the upper parts of the cathedral. The frescoes decorating the lower walls are very modern. These were completed in 1989 and are the work of Levan Tsutskiridze. All the icons in the cathedral are Georgian. The most recent is of Ilia Chavchavadze a celebrated writer of the nineteenth century. He was canonised in 1990. Sioni is representative of a typical dome or copula construction with a developed eastern part with prominent granite apses. The dome is situated on vaults abutting from the altar walls and two further columns giving the shape of an arrow. This particular design is probably the result of the renovation work in the seventeenth century. The exterior walls have limited or restricted ornamentation, apart from the dome itself that is more elaborate. In 1978 the patriarch of Georgia approved limited excavation works. The result of this was to reveal some hitherto hidden layers and restore some of the original stonework. One of the most venerated objects of the Georgian Church is held in Sioni. This is the cross of Saint Nino. Saint Nino is credited with bringing Christianity to Georgia in the fourth century. Saint Nino hailed from Cappadocia and left Jerusalem to seek out Christ's crucifixion coat. Under the guidance of a vision from the Virgin Mary she believed the cloak to be held in Mtskheta. According to the Georgian Chroniclers, she arrived in Georgia with only a cross made of the sinuous branches of the vine bound by her own hair. After performing a number of miracles including saving the life of the king of Iberia, Miriam, the country converted to Christianity. The cross that you can see is a replica of the original also kept in the church behind the iconostasis. The bell tower to the left of the entrance to Sioni dates from 1425. It comprises three storeys but all but the base floor were destroyed during Shah Agha Muhammed Khan's destruction of the city in 1795. It was restored in 1939. The bell is still struck to gather the city folk to prayer and if you have the opportunity the bell's chiming cannot fail to leave an indelible impression. (This is a modified part of a planned new guide to Tbilisi. For further information please telephone ((899) 583690.)
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2000
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