Gelati Monastery

Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Template:Flag
Type	Cultural
Criteria	iv
Reference	710
Region**	Europe and North America
Inscription history
Inscription	1994  (18th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. ** Region as classified by UNESCO.

The Monastery of Gelati is a monastic complex near Kutaisi, Imereti, western Georgia). It contains the Church of the Virgin founded by the King of Georgia David the Builder in 1106, and the 13th-century churches of St George and St Nicholas.

The Gelati Monastery for a long time was one of the main cultural and intellectual centers in Georgia. It had an Academy which employed some of the most celebrated Georgian scientists, theologians and philosophers, many of whom had previously been active at various orthodox monasteries abroad or at the Mangan Academy in Constantinople. Among the scientists were such celebrated scholars as Ioane Petritsi and Arsen Ikaltoeli.

Due to the extensive work carried out by the Gelati Academy, people of the time called it "a new Hellas" and "a second Athos".

The Gelati Monastery has preserved a great number of murals and manuscripts dating back to the 12th-17th centuries. The Khakhuli triptych had also been enshrined at Gelati until being stolen in 1859.

In Gelati is buried one of the greatest Georgian kings, David the Builder (Davit Agmashenebeli in Georgian). In 1994, Gelaty Monastery was recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site.

Burials

• Demetre I of Georgia
• David IV of Georgia
• Solomon I of Imereti
• Solomon II of Imereti
• George III of Georgia
• Vakhtang II of Georgia
• Bagrat VI of Georgia
• George V of Georgia
• Alexander II of Imereti
• George of Chqondidi

Gallery

[[gvtis mshobeli

Archangel Michael, mosaic fresco

The Ascension, mural

David IV of Georgia, mural

Gelati murals.jpg

Northern wall

Icon of St. George in front of the iconostasis

Looking up at the Christ Pantokrator in the dome

Icon of the Theotokos in the apse

Shrine in the monastery church

Gelati

See also

• Culture of Georgia
• Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church

Template:World Heritage Sites in Georgia Adapted from the Wikinfo article Gelati Monastery by Levan Urushadze, licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.

External links

• Bagrati Cathedral and Gelati Monastery - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

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