Poti Cathedral

Infobox religious building
building_name=Poti Cathedral
ფოთის საკათედრო ტაძარი

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caption=Vintage photo of the Poti Cathedral
location=Poti, Georgia
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religious_affiliation=Georgian Orthodox
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architect= A. Zelenko, M. Marfeld
architecture_type=Church
architecture_style= Neo-Byzantine
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year_started=1906
year_completed=1907
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capacity=20, 000
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Poti Cathedral ( _ka. ფოთის საკათედრო ტაძარი), or Poti Soboro Cathedral, is a Georgian Orthodox church in downtown Poti, Georgia.

The cathedral is an imitation of Hagia Sofia [Formerly an orthodox cathedral and one of the largest orthodox buildings in present-day Istanbul, Turkey.] in Constantinople, and it was built in 1906-07 with the great contribution of Niko Nikoladze, the mayor of Poti. Notably, Niko Nikoladze chose the location of the cathedral in the center of the town to make it viewable from every side of Poti.

A. Zelenko and M. Marfeld were the architects of this Neo-Byzantine cathedral and the capacity of the church is 20,000 people. The ornaments and decorations are taken from the medieval Christian cathedrals in the Trabzon mountains. The Poti Cathedral has three iconostases and among the main decoration of the iconostasis are the icons of St. Nino, St. Andrew the First Called, and the St. David the Builder.

In 1923, after the Red Army invasion of Georgia, the Communist government turned it into a theater and the bells were donated to the industrialization foundation.

In 2005, the cathedral was restored to the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Notes and references

External links

*ge icon [http://www.poti.ge/geo/religia.htm Poti Cathedral] . "Official site of the City of Poti". Retrieved on August 12, 2007.