Bagrati Cathedral

Bagrati Cathedral crowns Ukimerioni Hill above the Rioni River and can be seen from much of Kutaisi. Built in the early 11th century, it was one of the largest churches in medieval Georgia and a symbol of the newly united kingdom. What you see today is largely a reconstruction completed in 2012, with new stonework, a rebuilt dome and some modern structural additions that divided opinion. Inside it is bright and fairly bare. It is an active cathedral, with services on Sundays and church holidays.

Come for the setting as much as the building. The terrace around the cathedral looks over Kutaisi's rooftops, the river and the hills beyond. Carved stone fragments from the original church are displayed around the grounds, and the ruins of the old Kutaisi citadel lie on the same hill. It is a 15 to 20 minute walk uphill from the central square, or a short taxi ride. Early morning and sunset bring the softest light and fewest groups.

A floor inscription dates the cathedral to 1003, during the reign of Bagrat III, the first king of a united Georgia, after whom it is named. In 1692 an Ottoman attack brought down the dome and roof, and the church stood as a ruin for nearly three centuries. Restoration began in the 1950s, and a full reconstruction was finished in 2012. Bagrati was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List with Gelati in 1994 but was removed in 2017, after UNESCO judged the reconstruction harmful to its authenticity.