SIONI CATHEDRAL

It's beautiful, day and night. With its sand-colored stone facades, Sioni Cathedral dominates the surrounding area and always exerts the same aura on its visitors, with an impression of beauty and simplicity. If you have the opportunity to attend a mass, it takes on another dimension: the ritual enhanced by the beauty of the polyphonic chants will make your visit memorable, or at least much more lively. Georgia is still a very religious country, and the fervor of the faithful at mass is unique, as evidenced by the walls and frescoes blackened by the smoke of candles over the centuries. Sioni Cathedral is particularly revered. It is home to a major relic, the famous cross of Saint Nino. According to legend, it was given to her in a dream by the Virgin Mary. Her mission? To evangelize the country. The instigator of Christianity in Georgia is said to have assembled the branches using her own hair to create this cross. Inside, you can see a replica and frescoes by Prince Gagarin (1810-1893).

Originally built in the late ^6th century, this church was named after Jerusalem's Hill of Sion. Regularly destroyed by successive invasions, King David the Builder is said to have rebuilt it in 1112. Further invasions and earthquakes damaged it, before its renovation in the early 1980s. Once the seat of the Patriarchate, it has now been dethroned by the Saméba Cathedral.

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