Saint George's Church, Armenian church in Old Town, Tbilisi, Georgia
Saint George's Church is an Armenian church in the Old Town of Tbilisi, Georgia, sitting at the corner of Vakhtang Gorgasali Square near the Narikala fortress ruins. The building follows Armenian architectural style, with stone walls, carved ornamental details, and painted interior surfaces that span several centuries of artistic work.
The church was first mentioned in 1251, a date recorded in an Arabic inscription carved above the western entrance. Over the following centuries it was damaged and rebuilt more than once, with major renovation work carried out in the 18th century and again in the early 20th century.
The church serves the Armenian community of Tbilisi as an active place of worship, and its doors remain open to people of different faiths. Inside, painted walls and carved stone details show the visual language of Armenian religious art, which differs noticeably from Georgian Orthodox churches nearby.
The church is easy to find on foot from the center of the Old Town, close to Vakhtang Gorgasali Square. As the Narikala fortress ruins and several other churches are all nearby, it is worth setting aside enough time to walk between them at a relaxed pace.
The church holds the tomb of Sayat-Nova, a poet and musician from the 18th century who wrote in Armenian, Georgian, and Azerbaijani. It is rare to find a single artist of that era honored inside a place of worship for having worked across three different languages and communities.
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