Poti Cathedral

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Poti Cathedral ფოთის საკათედრო ტაძარი
Vintage photo of the Poti Cathedral
Basic information
Location	Poti, Georgia
Religious affiliation	Georgian Orthodox
Architectural description
Architect(s)	A. Zelenko, M. Marfeld
Architectural type	Church
Architectural style	Neo-Byzantine
Year completed	1907
Specifications
Capacity	20, 000

Poti Cathedral (Georgian: ფოთის საკათედრო ტაძარი), or Poti Soboro Cathedral, is a Georgian Orthodox church in downtown Poti, Georgia.

The cathedral is an imitation of Hagia Sofia^[1] in Constantinople, and it was built in 1906-07 with the great contribution of Niko Nikoladze, the mayor of Poti. Notably, Niko Nikoladze chose the location of the cathedral in the center of the town to make it viewable from every side of Poti.

A. Zelenko and M. Marfeld were the architects of this Neo-Byzantine cathedral and the capacity of the church is 20,000 people. The ornaments and decorations are taken from the medieval Christian cathedrals in the Trabzon mountains. The Poti Cathedral has three iconostases and among the main decoration of the iconostasis are the icons of St. Nino, St. Andrew the First Called, and the St. David the Builder.

In 1923, after the Red Army invasion of Georgia, the Communist government turned it into a theater and the bells were donated to the industrialization foundation.

In 2005, the cathedral was restored to the Georgian Orthodox Church.

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• (Georgian) Poti Cathedral. Official site of the City of Poti. Retrieved on August 12, 2007.