Annunciation Cathedral description and photos - Abkhazia: Sukhumi (Topic)

Annunciation Cathedral description and photos - Abkhazia: Sukhumi. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

One of the architectural sights of Sukhumi is the Cathedral of the Annunciation. It is a classic cruciform in plan structure, crowned with domes, made in the neo-Byzantine architectural style. The temple was built at the expense of the Greek Orthodox community in the period from 1909 to 1915.

Initially, the temple was consecrated in honor of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, and before the beginning of the Great Patriotic War was called by the people as the Greek St. Nicholas Church. After the war, the temple received a new, higher status - cathedral, and consecrated in honor of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Theotokos, hence its abbreviated popular name - Annunciation. But St. Nicholas was not forgotten in this church and his name is revered in the newly built (in 1980) chapel.

In connection with the expansion of the parish in the 80s of the last century, under the leadership of Metropolitan David, the church building was reconstructed and overhauled. Several side extensions have been completed, the adjacent territory has been landscaped, a side-altar in honor of Nicholas the Wonderworker has been erected and consecrated. Since the beginning of the new century, to the centenary of the temple, in 2010, significant repair and restoration work was carried out. One of the main gifts for the faithful for the anniversary was the gilded central dome of the cathedral, made by Chelyabinsk craftsmen. Not only parishioners, but also sailors on the roadstead of the Sukhumi bay can rejoice in its bright reflections.

Today, the Annunciation Cathedral is the main cathedral of the Pitsunda and Sukhum-Abkhazian diocese of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Services in the cathedral are conducted in four languages: Old Church Slavonic, Abkhazian, Greek and Georgian.

Topic: Annunciation Cathedral description and photos - Abkhazia: Sukhumi.