Metekhi St. Abo Tbileli Church

Metekhi St. Abo Tbileli Church is located in the city of Tbilisi. Below the Metekhi Church, on a cliff, on the banks of the Mtkvari River.

With the blessing of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, several years ago it was decided to build the church of St. Abo Tbileli at the foot of the Metekhi Rock, near the new bridge. Since 1994, work on the church project has begun at the Church Architecture Center of the Patriarchate of Georgia under the leadership of architect Revaz Janashia. While working on the project and searching for old materials on the artistic appearance of the holy niche and its location (archival materials were searched by Ia Gorgisheli, an employee of the Department for the Search and Protection of Relics of the Georgian Patriarchate), a small brick structure “clinging” to the rock on the edge of the cliff, on the banks of the Mtkvari River, attracted attention. According to modern researchers of Old Tbilisi, the niche of the holy Abo Tbileli was completely destroyed during the construction of a new bridge. In 1951, the chapel was blown up along with a large part of the surrounding rock. Therefore, it made no sense to conduct archaeological excavations. Therefore, the place was determined by approximations for the future temple. The situation changed after an early model of the fortress built by Tsarist Russia on the Metekhi plateau was discovered in the Tbilisi Ethnographic Museum, on which the niche (portico) of Abo Tbileli is specifically mentioned. This was accompanied by the tracing of the niche of Abo Tbileli in Ermakov's photo - "Metekhi Bridge". As a result of measurements on the model and on the spot itself, as well as by comparing the found photo-archival topographic materials, it was determined that the brickwork that was attached to the foot of the Metekhi rock could have been part of an old chapel built in the 19th century. Later, in the historical archive, a plan of the niche of St. Abo Tbileli, which they wanted to build on this holy site, was traced.

In 1994, on November 23, St. George's Day, work began to clear the site for the construction of the future temple. The territory was cleared of 3-4 meters of loose earth. Further work completely revealed the niche-portico, the upper part of which had been demolished. Namely, the ruins of two columns with their bases and a red rectangular tuff stone inserted between the columns. Later, a rectangular stone of the same size was found at the lower level of the blood-red stone and small stones next to it. Nearby, the pier of the Martyrs' Bridge appeared. A very remarkable event also took place here. A small fir tree was cut down on the territory covered by the earthwork of the Holy Abo Niche. In the Transfiguration Monastery in Tbilisi, a fir log was cut open and an image of a cross was found on the cut. The Georgian Church recognized it as a true cross made without hands, a miracle performed by the will of God. Currently, the cross is kept in the St. Nicholas Church in Krtsanisi.

On January 21, 1995, on the day of the commemoration of Saint Abo Tbileli, His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, celebrated a divine service at Samartvili. On January 21, 1996, after the liturgy, the Catholicos-Patriarch, together with the clergy of Tbilisi, departed from Sioni Cathedral to the shrine of Saint Abo Tbileli. At the same time, the clergy and parishioners of the St. Nicholas Church in Krtsanisi walked the path taken by Kirioni in 1900 to the shrine of Saint Abo Tbileli. The procession was preceded by an icon of Saint Abo Tbileli created by Lasha Kintsurashvili. The Catholicos-Patriarch celebrated a divine service at the shrine.

In 1996, on March 17, on the day of the great feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, the foundation of the Church of St. Abo Tbileli was consecrated. The consecration was performed by the rector of the Church of St. Nicholas in Krtsanisi, Dean Besarion Menabde.

Architecture: The future Church of St. Abo Tbileli is a small two-nave basilica (approx. 5x7). The roofs of both naves are single-pitched. The church joins the rock and naturally grows into it.

The construction of St. Abo Tbileli is underway. The church is being built with large squares, with lime mortar. The sculptors who graduated from the Academy of Arts are Vakhtang Bochorishvili, Zaza Pantsulaia, David Gomarteli and Giorgi Kheladze. The construction is financed by the Dvalishvili family and, together with them, representatives of the faithful parish.

Newspaper “Patriarchal Office” No. 6(57), 2000.