Bolnisi Bolnisi ( ka, ბოლნისი, az, Qəmərli), is a city in the country of Georgia, located in the Kvemo Kartli region and capital of the Bolnisi district. It currently has an estimated 13,800 inhabitants. History Bolnisi was settled ...

is a city in the country of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, the capital of Bolnisi district, which has long been the seat of either a

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

or an

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

. Bolnisi has been a center of Georgian Christianity since early Christian times, being the site of an early and important monastery. The Bolnisi Cathedral was built in 478–493 under the rule of

Vakhtang I of Iberia Vakhtang I Gorgasali ( ka, ვახტანგ I გორგასალი, tr; or 443 – 502 or 522), of the Chosroid dynasty, was a king of Iberia, natively known as Kartli (eastern Georgia) in the second half of the 5th and first quarter o ...

and is the source of the

Bolnisi cross The Bolnisi cross ( ka, ბოლნური ჯვარი ) is a cross symbol, taken from a 5th-century ornament at the Bolnisi Sioni church, which came to be used as a national symbol of Georgia. It is a variant of the Cross pattée popul ...

, which came to be a national symbol of Georgia. In 2009, the Bishop of Bolnisi was summoned to

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

and advised to see to it that the large number of crosses which had been erected around Muslim areas of Bolnisi as a provocation were removed, which he was partly but not entirely successful in doing.

Bishops of Bolnisi

* late 5th century: David. Nothing is known of this person, but there is an ancient inscription in Bolnisi Sioni: "Christ, have mercy on David the Bishop with his congregation..." * early 9th century: St. John of Khakuhli, a learned theologian, translator, and calligrapher was, according to some sources, Bishop of Bolnisi before moving to Khakuhli. Another manuscript casts this into dispute. *1748 or 1749–?:

Timote Gabashvili Timote (Timothy) Gabashvili (Georgian: ტიმოთე გაბაშვილი) (1703–1764) was a Georgian travel writer, traveler, diplomat, cartographer, religious and public figure. He was the first to describe the Georgian antiquit ...

. He was given the Diocese of Bolnisi by the Patriarch Anton. He was simultaneously Archbishop of Kutaisi, at least in title (in practice he had been deposed by the Turks). *21st century: Jegudiel ( ka, ტაბატაძე, Tabatadze) *Present (): Ephrem ( ka, გამრეკელიძე, Gamrekelidze).

Archbishops of Bolnisi

*1995–2004: Thaddeus ( ka, თადეოზ, Tadeoz or Tadeozi; full name Mirian Ioramashvili) (born 1946). Thaddeus was ordained in 1977, elevated to bishop in 1979, archbishop in 1984, and metropolitan in 2003. He was Archbishop of Bolnisi from 1995 to 2004.

References

Georgian Orthodox Church

Bolnisi {{orthodoxy-stub