Description of the attraction
The Church of Kashveti (St. George) is an Orthodox church located in the Georgian capital - Tbilisi, on the central city avenue Shota Rustaveli, next to the building of the Parliament of Georgia. Kashveti is an excellent example of Georgia's cult architecture of the first half of the 20th century.
The temple got its name thanks to an ancient legend, which is directly related to the place where the church is located today. According to this legend, the famous Georgian saint Reverend David of Gareja was slandered by a pregnant woman who claimed that he had seduced her. It was at this place, in front of all the people, that the Monk touched the belly of a pregnant woman with his staff and asked: "child, who is your father." After which the name of one pagan sounded. According to legend, the woman who slandered David gave birth not to a child, but to a stone. The words that form the name of this temple, "kva" and "sva" are translated from the Georgian language as "stone" and "to give birth", respectively.
The modern building of the church was erected in 1910. The author of this project was the local architect of German origin Leopold Bielfeld. The church was built on the site of the former, badly dilapidated temple, erected by Prince Givi Amilakhvari in 1742. The old church had the same name - Kashveti. However, it was not the first church in this place. According to historical information, the church at the same place has stood since the VI century.
The Church of St. George (Kashveti) is an almost exact copy of the famous Samtavisi Church, which is a fine example of medieval church architecture. The temple is richly decorated with stone carvings made by Georgian craftsmen from the Agladze family. In Kashveti you can see the miraculous icon of St. David, thanks to which the church became famous throughout the country.
