Poti Cathedral

Poti Cathedral has no analogue in Georgia by architectural style; it was built in the Byzantine style and is an almost exact copy of the Hagia Sophia, with reduced scale.

In 1895 the Temple Construction Committee was headed by Niko Nikoladze who wanted to build a Georgian architectural style temple, but the Russian government disapproved the project. Later, the architects Zelenko and Marfeld developed a new project according to St. Sophia Cathedral existing in Constantinople.

The construction of the temple took place in 1906-1907.  Niko Nikoladze – the mayor of the city had chosen a place for the temple by himself, in the centre of Poti.

In 1932 the communist government of Poti made decision to turn the cathedral into a theater.

Time after time reconstruction of the building took place several times, resulted of which the appearance of the temple got quite damaged.

After the Restoration of State Independence of Georgia, the dispute between the Georgian Church and the theater troupe lasted for a long time, and finally, by the decision of Poti City Council, the building was handed to the church in 2005.

In 2005-2012 the final reconstruction of the temple was carried out with the blessings and active involvement of Grigol, the High Priest of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Metropolitan of the Diocese of Poti and Khobi. The project belongs to the founder and chief architect of “Studio 9” – Mamuka Chkhaidze. As a result of the reconstruction, the current appearance of the temple is to its historical contours as close as possible.