Dranda Cathedral ( ab, Нанҳәа иазку Дранда-ныха, ka, დრანდის ტაძარი) is a Georgian Orthodox

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...

located in , in the

Gulripshi District Gulripshi District ( ka, გულრიფშის რაიონი, ab, Гәылрыҧшь араион) is a district of Abkhazia, one of Georgia’s breakaway republics. It corresponds to the eponymous Georgian district. Its capital is Gu ...

of the

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with '' de jure'' ("by l ...

independent

Republic of Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which v ...

, internationally recognised to constitute a part 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 ...

. According to the Roman historian

Procopius of Caesarea Procopius of Caesarea ( grc-gre, Προκόπιος ὁ Καισαρεύς ''Prokópios ho Kaisareús''; la, Procopius Caesariensis; – after 565) was a prominent late antique Greek scholar from Caesarea Maritima. Accompanying the Roman gen ...

, in 551 emperor

Justinian I Justinian I (; la, Iustinianus, ; grc-gre, Ἰουστινιανός ; 48214 November 565), also known as Justinian the Great, was the Byzantine emperor from 527 to 565. His reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized '' renov ...

built a temple in these environs; this is believed by some to have been what is now the cathedral in Dranda. In the Georgian Orthodox

Catholicate of Abkhazia The Catholicate of Abkhazia ( ka, აფხაზეთის საკათალიკოსო) was a subdivision of the Georgian Orthodox Church that existed as an independent entity in western Georgia from the 1470s to 1814. It was headed by ...

, Dranda was the seat of a bishop. There has been some restoration on the exterior walls of the structure and roof, covering with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

much of the original

brick A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

architecture that was once visible. Small portions may still be seen in what was intentionally left untouched.

Gallery

Image:Dranda Cathedral wall.JPG, Close-up of the exterior wall. File:Dranda Cathedral font.jpg, Baptismal font before the reconstruction File:Dranda Cathedral interior with font.JPG, Interior with the font (after reconstruction) in the background

References

External links

Photographs and background information
Orthodox cathedrals in Abkhazia Georgian Orthodox cathedrals in Georgia (country) 6th-century churches Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia {{Georgia-EO-church-stub