Bagrati Cathedral
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The Cathedral of the Dormition, or the Kutaisi Cathedral, more commonly known as Bagrati Cathedral is an 11th-century cathedral in the city of Kutaisi,
the Imereti region of Georgia. A masterpiece of the medieval Georgian
architecture, the cathedral suffered heavy damage throughout centuries and was
reconstructed to its present state through a gradual process starting in the
1950s, with major conservation works concluding in 2012. A distinct landmark in
the scenery of central Kutaisi, the cathedral rests on the Ukimerioni
Hill.Bagrati Cathedral was built in the early years of the 11th century, during
the reign of King Bagrat III, due to which it was called "Bagrati",
i.e., Bagrat’s cathedral. An inscription on the north wall reveals that the
floor was laid in ,,choronicon 223", i.e., 1003. In 1692,
it was devastated in an explosion by Ottoman troops who had invaded the Kingdom
of Imereti. The incident caused the cupola and ceiling to collapse. Conservation
and restoration works, as well as archaeological studies at the Cathedral began
in the 1950s under the leadership of a Georgian architect Vakhtang Tsintsadze.
The restoration works headed by Tsintsadze were divided into six stages and
continued for several decades through 1994. That same year in 1994 Bagrati
Cathedral, together with thr Gelati Monastery, was included in UNESCO’S Word
Heritage Site list as a single entity. In 2001, ownership of the cathedral was
transferred from the Georgian state to the Georgian Orthodox Church.
It is
presently of limited use for religious services, but attracts many pilgrims and
tourists. It is also frequently used as a symbol of the city of Kutaisi, being
one of its main tourist attractions.In 2010, under the leadership of an Italian
architect Andrea Bruno, Georgia commenced reconstruction works aimed at
returning Bagrati Cathedral to its original state as a religious space. In July
2010 UNESCO added Bagratli cathedral to its list of endangered world heritage
sites in part because of the continuing reconstruction, which it feared would
affect the structural integrity and authenticity of the site. Even before the
reconstruction works, in 2008 ICOMOS was concerned about the deteriorating
state of Bagrati, but it commended that any conservation efforts by the
Government should not include a type of reconstruction which would affect the
site's historical value. In 2011 UNESCO urged the Georgian government
authorities to develop a rehabilitation strategy that would reverse some of the
changes made to the site in recent years, but it acknowledged that these
alterations may be "almost irreversible". In 2013, architect Andrea
Bruno was awarded a Georgian state gold medal for his role in the Bagrati Cathedral
reconstruction and was subsequently recognized for this project with the
Univercity of Ferrara Domus International Prize for Restoration and
Conservation.
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