Kaloubani Sameba Church, Orthodox Christian church in central Tbilisi, Georgia.
Kaloubani Sameba is a Georgian Orthodox church on Erosi Manjgaladze Street, behind the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. It is a brick building of the inscribed-cross type with plain facades, a dome on columns, and a bell tower added in 1850 above a classicist portico. The interior was painted by Italian artist Luigi Longo in the 1890s.
The building was constructed in 1790 and underwent major renovations during the late 1800s when Italian painter Ludwig Longo created interior murals. These changes shaped the church's appearance over more than a century of use.
The name "Old Sameba" only became common after the new Holy Trinity Cathedral was built between 1995 and 2004. On 10 April 1863 the writer Ilia Chavchavadze and Olga Guramishvili were married here, a fact Georgian visitors often recall. The interior paintings were made in the 1890s by the Italian painter Luigi Longo.
The church stands on Erosi Manjgaladze Street, No. 6, in the Kaloubani quarter of old Tbilisi, behind the building of the National Parliamentary Library of Georgia. Approach it from the library side; the west entrance with the columned gateway and bell tower faces the street. The interior is painted, so keep voices low during services.
The bell tower was added in two stages: Shio Agniashvili built a columned porch and bell tower on the west side in 1836, and in 1850 a bell tower was raised above the porch itself. Its dome was rebuilt in 1988 following Georgian architectural traditions.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,018 contributors worldwide.