Dmanisi Sioni Cathedral

Dmanisi Sioni Cathedral, a monument of Georgian architecture, is a three-church basilica.

It is located near the village of Patara Dmanisi, in the Dmanisi historic site. Only the middle nave has been preserved in its original form, which ends in the east with a rounded semicircular apse.

The church is built of small, gray stones, as well as bricks and cobblestones. Structurally important parts were built with cleanly cut square stones. It is roofed with flat stone tiles. A gate and a baptistery were added to the church from the south. The church was painted inside.

Images of saints and inscriptions have been preserved in the altar. G. Chubinashvili, L. Muskhelishvili and V. Beridze dated the monument to the 6^th century. But later it was revised by the specialists such as E. Arjevanidze to the 9^th century. Sometime between 1213 and 1222, during the reign of George IV, a lavishly adorned narthex was added on the western end of the basilica. One of the inscriptions on the narthex mentions George IV. To the east of the church is a rectangular bell-tower, which has been rebuilt many times.

Dmanisi Sioni Cathedral is a functioning Georgian Orthodox church (renovated in 2009).

 

Literature: მ უ ს ხ ე ლ ი შ ვ ი ლ ი ლ., დმანისი (ქალაქის ისტორია და ნაქალაქარის აღწერა), კრ.: შოთა რუსთაველის ეპოქის მატერიალური კულტურა, თბ., 1938; ჩ უ ბ ი ნ ა შ ვ ი ლ ი გ., ქართული ხელოვნების ისტორია, ტ. 1, ტფ., 1936.

Sh. Sagharadze