Cathedral of Saint George, Tbilisi

Saint George's Church
The church in 2011, before renovation
Basic information
Location	5 Samghebro Street, Tbilisi, Georgia
Geographic coordinates	41°41′21″N 44°48′32″E / 41.689242°N 44.808898°E / 41.689242; 44.808898Coordinates: 41°41′21″N 44°48′32″E / 41.689242°N 44.808898°E / 41.689242; 44.808898
Affiliation	Armenian Apostolic Church
Country	Georgia
Status	Active
Architectural description
Architectural style	Armenian
Completed	1251 or earlier

Saint George's Church (Armenian: Սուրբ Գևորգ եկեղեցի, Surb Gevorg yekeghetsi; Georgian: სურფგევორქი, sur′pgevork′i) is a 13th-century Armenian church in the old city of Tbilisi, Georgia's capital. It is one of the two functioning Armenian churches in Tbilisi and is the cathedral of the Georgian Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. It is located in the south-western corner of Vakhtang Gorgasali Square (Meidani) and is overlooked by the ruins of Narikala fortress.

According to the Tbilisi municipality website, the area where the church is located used to belong to the prison district during the Middle Ages, hence the occasional Georgian name, Tsikhisdidi (tsikhe = prison, didi = big).

According to Armenian historians Hovsep Orbeli and Levon Melikset-Bek, the church was founded in 1251. The date was proposed based on an Arabic inscription on a khachkar over the western door of the church yard. According to 13th century chronicler Hovhannes Erznkatsi, the church was built by Prince Umek of Karin (Erzurum). According to Jean-Michel Thierry, Umek was a wealthy merchant who settled in Tiflis, and married Princess Mama Vahtangian, the daughter of Hasan Jalal Vahtangian, Grand Prince of Khachen (ruled 1214–61). However, the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia website claims that the church existed long before the 13th century and that Erznkatsi refers to the church being rebuilt and not being built by Umek. According to Narek Kushchyan, the pastor of the church as of 2017, an Armenian Apostolic Church was built on its site in 631, called Berd Surb Gevorg ("Saint George [of the] Fortress"), following the final break between the churches of Armenia and Georgia.