Telavi Seminary
Telavi Seminary, a theological and philosophical school. In 1782, the Telavi Philosophical and Theological School was transformed into the Telavi Seminary. Erekle II appointed Gaioz as the first rector. He headed the seminary only in 1782–1783, but managed to carry out profound work.
In 1783, Gaioz the Rector left Telavi. He was replaced by D. Aleksi-Meskhishvili, called David the Rector. After his arrival, the scope of the educational work expanded at the seminary; he taught grammar, theoretical physics, ethics. In the words of Ioane Batonishvili: “David taught many students the philosophical studies at the Telavi school” (mostly secular disciplines). Grammar, poetics, rhetoric, logic, metaphysics, physics, philosophy, church history, Georgian language, arithmetic, civil history, etc., were taught at the seminary. The seminary was based on the scholasticism of the Moscow educational academies, most of the textbooks were translated from Russian, so the vocabulary and syntax of the Georgian language were influenced by Russian tendencies. Teaching was mostly carried out using the “question-and-answer” method. David the Rector founded a literary-creative group in the seminary, where debates were held; attendance was free and as a result, interest in education and science was awakened in the attending public. The group included 14 seminarians: M. Andronikashvili, E. Kobulashvili, D. Mikeladze, I. Garejeli and others. King Erekle paid close attention to the seminary. He often visited it and awarded outstanding students in order to encourage them. Many prominent secular and religious figures were educated in the seminary. Telavi Seminary existed until the beginning of the 19th century.
