BAGRATI CATHEDRAL

Bagrati is one of the most bizarre and at the same time most representative stories of contemporary Georgia. Until 2010, it was the most photogenic ruin in the country, in the vein of the Soissons Cathedral in France. With an additional symbol: the Ottoman armies were the cause of the destruction of one of the country's three major cathedrals, and these remains were to bear witness to this. But it has suffered the desire to rebuild the country of Mikheil Saakashvili: the ruins of the 12th century have found a new dome and even a section of wall ... glass.

The Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, known as Bagrati because it was built in the 11th century by King Bagrat III, was in the Middle Ages one of the three pillar cathedrals of Georgia of the Golden Age, with Svetitskhovéli in Kartlie and Alaverdi in Kakhetia. David the Reconstructor was crowned there. But the Imperial Cathedral was less fortunate than its two sisters.

In the past, a royal castle and a citadel stood on top of the Oukimérioni hill. In the 6th century it was one of the most important castles in Georgia. After the construction of Bagrati, the ensemble must have been monumental. The cathedral had already been damaged by the Turks who set fire to it in 1510, and in 1692 an explosion by Turkish troops caused the roof and dome to collapse again, leaving the church in the state it is in today. In the 18th century, the vicissitudes of the constant clashes with the Turks in the countryside would lead to a new destruction, this time of the castle... perpetrated by the Georgians. King Solomon I, supported by the troops of the Russian general Todtleben, bombed the citadel and the castle in 1769 from the opposite hill, Mtsvané Kvavila, while the Turkish pasha occupied the place with his garrison. The Russian-Georgian army defeated, but the castle was completely ruined.

Today, one can easily distinguish the original stones, in the lower and middle parts, and those added in 2012 to make Bagrati a complete church.

North of the church, the ruins of the castle. Only part of the defensive walls, a marani (wine cellar) and a remnant of the church remain. One can see the unusual size of the complex by Georgian standards. Walking along the ruined walls is very pleasant, one has a magnificent view of the Rioni valley and the Caucasus on one side, Bagrati on the other, and in the middle the old town of Kutaisi dominated in the distance by the Meskhetian mountain range.