Santa Maria de Sion de Tbilis

Marian Advocation of Tbilis (Tbilis)

La Cathedral of Sion de Tbilis is one of the oldest and most important temples of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the capital of Georgia. The local tradition links it to the ancient Marian dedication of Saint Mary of Zion and, in its historical form, Sleep of the Virgin; its location in the old town of Tbilis soon turned it into a first-class religious center.

Main data

Origin and history

La Cathedral of Sion de Tbilis is one of the oldest and most important temples of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the capital of Georgia. The local tradition links it to the ancient Marian dedication of Saint Mary of Zion and, in its historical form, Sleep of the Virgin; its location in the old town of Tbilis soon turned it into a first-class religious center.

As for the documented historythe information and tourism references consulted place their origin among the siglos V y VII, although this data does not appear developed in the sources accessible in critical detail. I'm sure the building has been rebuilt and restored over the centuries, and today it remains an active cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox rite.

The great relic linked to the temple is the Santa Niño vine cross, evangelizer of Georgia. According to the traditionHoly Child received that cross from the Virgin Mary herself; that affirmation belongs to the field of piety and ecclesial memory, not to a documented historical verification in the sources consulted.

The image and the sanctuary

In this advocation does not contain a Marian image of veneration in the usual sense of a unique size or icon widely documented in the sources consulted. The center of devotion is the Templo-catedral y la relic of the cross of Saint Childnot a specific image of the Virgin.

The sanctuary is the Sion de Tbilis Cathedral o Sioni Cathedral Churchlocated in the historic centre of Tbilis, Georgia. The sources consulted present it as one of the oldest churches in Georgia and as a catedral ortodoxa GeorgianIt is not in these sources that it is a minor basilica, a national sanctuary or a diocesan sanctuary.

Sponsorship and coronation

The documented patronage in the sources consulted corresponds to the Tbilisi city as the historic main cathedral of the city centre, within the Georgian Orthodox and Apostolic Church.

No consta una documented canonical coronation.

Party and devotion

The main feast associated with the temple, by its ancient dedication, is that of the Sleeping of the Virgin Mary, although a specific liturgical date specific to this local advocation is not confirmed in the sources consulted.

The devotion around Zion of Tbilis is concentrated in the veneration of the historical temple and of the Saint Child's Cross, relic of great importance to the Christian identity of Georgia. The sources consulted do not provide verifiable data of influx, mass pilgrimages or quantified popular traditions; therefore, these extremes no constan for sure.

Link to the Rosary

There is no specific historical link between this Georgian invocation and the prayer of the Rosary in the sources consulted. Even so, from Marian spirituality, the Rosary naturally accompanies all devotion to the Virgin because it contemplates, in biblical and contemplative key, the mysteries of Christ with Mary; in this case, that relationship would be a pious general application, not a documented and own data of Zion of Tbilis.