One of Georgia’s most revered religious and architectural landmarks, the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, has been affected by water infiltration following weeks of heavy rainfall across the country.
Images posted on social media by a local resident showed rainwater seeping into the interior of the 11th-century cathedral, located in the historic town of Mtskheta, in central Georgia, just north of the capital, Tbilisi. The incident was later confirmed by Georgia’s Cultural Heritage Agency, part of the Ministry of Culture.
The agency said the infiltration occurred on March 22 and that “immediate measures” were taken to mitigate further damage.
“Work began immediately following the incident,” the agency said in a statement. “At the final stage, it is planned to seal the cracks with a special solution, for which dry weather is required. Unfortunately, continued rainfall has made it impossible to complete the process.”
The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, serves as the main patriarchal cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church and is a significant symbol of Georgia’s spiritual and historical identity.
