Saint George's Church, Tbilisi

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Saint George's Church is a 13th‑century Armenian church in the old city of Tbilisi, Georgia. It is one of two Armenian churches still in use in the city and serves as the cathedral of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The church sits on the southwest corner of Vakhtang Gorgasali Square (Meidani), near the ruins of the Narikala fortress.

The area where the church stands was once part of a prison district, which is why it is sometimes called Tsikhisdidi in Georgian. Armenian historians say the church was founded in 1251, based on an Arabic inscription on a khachkar over the western door. Some sources say the church existed earlier, possibly as far back as 631, and may have been rebuilt in the 13th century. Over the centuries it passed to a Persian garrison in 1616 and was returned to the Armenian community in 1748. It was burned during the Persian sack of Tbilisi in 1795 and was restored several times (notably in the 17th century, 1832 and 1881). After the Soviet demolition of the Vank Cathedral in the 1930s, Saint George's became the seat of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Work on a major restoration began in 2012. It was funded by Russian‑Armenian businessman Ruben Vardanian and supported by other donors, including Albert Avdolyan, Sergey Sarkisov, Rusudan Makhashvili, Danil Khachaturov, and former Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili. About 3.5 million dollars were spent, and the project was completed in 2015. The church was reconsecrated on October 31, 2015, by Catholicos Karekin II, with attendance by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Bidzina Ivanishvili.

In February 2019, a video surfaced online showing three ethnic Azerbaijanis burning a flag in front of the church; Armenian church officials said the incident occurred months earlier.

Architecturally, the church follows a traditional partitioned open cross plan and is built of brick, with stucco on the exterior. The interior features late 18th‑century paintings by Hovnatan Hovnatanian. Between 1922 and 1923 Gevorg Bashinjaghian painted four large murals on the interior walls, the altar, and the wall in front of it: Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, The Repentance of Judas, Jesus and the Boatmen, and Harvest Time.

Saint George's Church remains an active church and a symbol of the Armenian community in Tbilisi.