Sioni Cathedral is named after Jerusalem’s Zion (or Sion). No one knows the date of cathedral’s foundation. Some scientists suppose that it was founded by Vakhtang Gorgasali (the king of Georgia and founder of Tbilisi), others believe that it was founded at the time of Guaram King. The cathedral was finished in the first half of 7th century.
GPS coordinates for Garmin/Navitel: N41.6913678, E44.8076134
During the years, the cathedral was damaged and/or destroyed by many invaders – mongols, persians, byzantians and many others. And even though it was rebuilt several times, its architecture didn’t change significantly.
There are many different paintings inside cathedral. Some of them were drawn in 17th century, some of them are modern.
There is a spring with a holy water on cathedral’s territory. But we were unlucky to taste it. It seems like it doesn’t work in the winter.
One of the most important relics of this place is Saint Nina’s (Saint Nino’s) Cross. We already mentioned it in our previous article about Georgia. She brought christianity to Georgia and established the first cross that was made of two grape vines joined by her hair.
