Metekhi Church (Tbilisi City)
Metekhi Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (Georgian: მეტეხის ღვთისმშობლის შობის ტაძარი). One of the most important and famous monuments of Georgian architecture of the 5th-6th centuries. The first architectural appearance of Metekhi symbolically resembled the temple built over the tomb of the Virgin Mary in the Garden of Gethsemane in Jerusalem. Due to its location, its fate was closely linked to the fate of the capital and Georgia as a whole. Almost everything that Tbilisi has experienced was also the fate of Metekhi and has remained an integral part of the city since its foundation. The temple was located in the very heart of the newly founded city, where the founder of Tbilisi Vakhtang Gorgasali (Georgian: ვახტანგ გორგასალი) built a church and a fortress. The fortress served as a royal residence and the name “Metekhi” (Georgian: მეტეხი) is translated as “around the fortress”. In Georgian historical sources of the 7th-13th centuries, Metekhi is mentioned as a powerful fortified castle, where the palace of the Georgian kings was located.
According to legend, the holy martyr Shushanik (Georgian: წმინდა შუშანიკი) is buried in the deacon’s chapel of Metekhi Cathedral. Also, according to legend, the Metekhi rock was supposed to be the place of torture of Abo Tbileli (Georgian: აბო თბილელი), the patron saint of Tbilisi (8th century), in whose name a small church was built at the foot of the rock under Metekhi Cathedral. Over the centuries, the architecture of the temple has undergone many changes, and traces of construction from different eras are clearly visible in it. Parts of the eastern and northern walls of the most ancient buildings have survived to this day. In the 17th-18th centuries, the Metekhi Fortress was first garrisoned by the Ottomans and then by the Persians. In the 19th century, the temple lost its religious significance, and a Russian garrison was stationed in the fortress. The old fortress was destroyed and a new building was built in its place, which served as the administrative center of the Metekhi prison. Later, the temple was turned into a prison church. During the Soviet period, the State Youth Drama Theater-Studio staged performances here.
1, Metekhi Street (Georgian: 1, მეტეხის ქუჩა), Tbilisi Municipality (Georgian: თბილისის მუნიციპალიტეტი)
