Samtavisi Cathedral

The Samtavisi Cathedral, also known as the cathedral of the Samtavisi and Kaspi Eparchy of the Georgian Orthodox Church, was built in 1030 by the architect Ilarion Samtavneli as a monastic katholikon. This temple is one of the most famous monuments of medieval Georgian architecture and is located in the village of Samtavisi in the Kaspi municipality, just 30 km from the city of Gori, which is the capital of the Shida Kartli region. The temple has a cross-domed structure, with a plan close to a square, which gives it compactness and enhances the dynamic upward aspiration of its forms.