WATCH ON YOUTUBE

NIKOZI CATHEDRAL

Nikozi Cathedral of the Savior is located in the center of the present-day village of Zemo Nikozi. In the late fifth century, King Vakhtang Gorgasali of Iberia (Eastern Georgia) established twelve new episcopal sees in his kingdom. One of these was Nikozi, where according to his chronicler, Vakhtang built a church “on the hearth of a fire-temple.” In the tenth century, the cathedral was renovated by Bishop Michael. In the eleventh century, a temple was installed in front of the sanctuary. Later on, the cathedral collapsed, and in the fifteenth century it was restored as a domed building. At present it is an inscribed-cross structure, with the dome resting on four free-standing piers. The irregular masonry and distorted decorative elements provide evidence of the decline of Georgian architecture in the fifteenth century. The cathedral was once again repaired in 1889. Music: Shen Khar Venakhi by Shvidkatsa