Draft:Timeline of Mtskheta

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Mtskheta, Georgia and its former suburbs - Tsitsamuri and Armazi.

Prehistory (Before 302 BC)

• 3rd millennium BC - First signs of inhabitation are found in mtskheta, Samtavro necropolis founded.
• c. 589 BC - Jews fleeing the Babylonian captivity enter the city and settle in the Suburb of Zanavi.
• 4th century BC - Samara gets killed and replaced by Azo as the ruler of the City-state of Mtskheta.

Antiquity (302 BC - 327 AD

• c. 302 BC - Pharnavaz I makes Mtskheta the capital of Iberia.
• c. 200 BC - Saurmag I strengthens the walls of Mtskheta.
• c. 100 BC - king Parnajom I invites zoroastrian priests to settle in the city.
• 65 BC - Battle of the Pelorus unfolds near the city.
• c. 30 AD - Elias of Mtskheta comes back from jerusalem and takes the seamless robe of Jesus Christ with him.
• c. 75 AD - Walls of Armazi were strengthened by emperor Vespasian and erects the Stele of Vespasian in its memory.
• c. 120 AD - Asparukh is the Bidaxsh (governor) of the Armazi suburb of Mtskheta.
• c. 140 AD - Javakh is the Bidaxsh of Armazi.
• c. 150 AD - Armazi bilingual inscription erected.
• 2nd century AD - Mausoleum built.
• 324/337 AD - Mirian III converts to Christianity and gets baptised in the confluence of Mtkvari and Pelorus rivers; Christianity becomes state religion.
• c. 330 AD - Wooden Svetitskhoveli Cathedral founded.
• c. 330 AD - Samtavro convent founded.

Middle ages (337 AD - 1801) AD

• c. 400 AD - Archil I builds the church of Stephen the first-martyred.
• c. 450-500 AD - Vakhtang I builds a stone basilica atop the ruins of old Svetitskhoveli cathedral.
• 6th century AD - Dachi of Iberia moves the capital to Tbilisi.
• c. 540 AD - Ustam is the persian appointed governor of the city.
• 541 AD - Eustathius of Mtskheta arrives to the city after fleeing Gandzak.
• c. 580 AD - Guaram I founds the small Jvari church.
• 586 AD - Stephen I of Iberia starts the construction of the Jvari Monastery.
• c. 605 AD - Jvari Monastery is constructed.
• 736/738 AD - Mtskheta is sacked by Umayyad forces during the Umayyad invasion of Georgia.
• 1010 AD - George I of Georgia starts the construction of the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.
• 1029 AD - Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is finished.
• c. 1030 AD - Samtavro Monastery is constructed.
• 1283 AD - An earthquake damages the city, including the Samtavro and Svetitskhoveli cathedrals.
• c. 1300-1350 - Bebris tsikhe built.
• 14th century AD - George V of Georgia rebuilds Svetitskhoveli and Samtavro.
• 1400 AD - Tamerlane sacks Mtskheta and burns Svetitskhoveli in the process.
• 1425 AD - Alexander I rebuilds and restores the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.
• 1476 AD - George VIII is buried in Svetitskhoveli.
• 1556 AD - Luarsab I is buried in Svetitskhoveli.
• 1656 AD - King Rostom of Kartli and his spouse Mary restore the drum of Svetitskhoveli.
• c. 1780 AD - Palace of Anthony the catholicos built near Svetitskhoveli.
• 1787 AD - Heraclius II of Georgia builds a wall around Svetitskhoveli.
• 1798 AD - King Heraclius II is buried in Svetitskhoveli.

Modern era (1801 AD - today)

• 1801 AD - George XII is buried in Svetitskhoveli.
• 1872 AD - Poti - Tbilisi railway (which passes trough Mtskheta) opens.
• 1907 AD - Georgian national hero Ilia Chavchavadze gets shot in Tsitsamuri.
• 1917 AD - Major archaeological excavations start under the guidance of Mikheil Javakhishvili
• 1929 AD - Mtskheta becomes the center of Mtskheta raion
• 1987 AD - Professional wrestler Levan Gorgadze, better known as Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi, is born in the town.
• 1991 AD - The city is twinned with Argos, Greece.
• 1994 AD - Historical monuments of Mtskheta is recognised as a UNESCO site.
• 2001 AD - The city is twinned with Leuville-sur-Orge, France.
• 2006 AD - Mtskheta becomes the center of Mtskheta Municipality.
• 2014 AD - Mtskheta is given the status of a Holy city by the Patriarch of all Georgia Illia II.
• 2016 AD - The city is twinned with Vagharshapat, Armenia.
• 2019 AD - The city is twinned with Findikli, Turkey.

See also

• Mtskheta
• Armazi
• Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
• Timeline of Tbilisi

Bibliography

Apakidze, A.; Gobejishvili, G.; Kalandadze, A.; Lomtatidze, G. (1955). Mtskheta: Results of Archaeological Studies. Vol. 1. Tbilisi.

Apakidze, A. (1959). Mtskheta: The Ancient Capital of the Kingdom of Kartli. Tbilisi: Georgian SSR Academy of Sciences.

Apakidze, A. M. (ed.) (1978). Mtskheta II: Archaeological Monuments of Ancient, Classical and Early Feudal Periods of Greater Mtskheta. Tbilisi.

Apakidze, A. M. (1980). Mtskheta: Results of Archaeological Studies, Vol. 3: Samtavro Burials of the First Three Centuries AD. Tbilisi.

Apakidze, A.; Nikolaishvili, V. (1994). "An Aristocratic Tomb of the Roman Period from Mtskheta, Georgia". The Antiquaries Journal, 74, 16–54.

Gamkrelidze, G. (2008). In the Path of Georgian Archaeology. Tbilisi: National Parliamentary Library of Georgia.

Mindorashvili, D. (2014). Georgian Archaeology: The Early Middle Ages. Batumi: Batumi Shota Rustaveli State University Press.

Braund, D. (1994). Georgia in Antiquity: A History of Colchis and Transcaucasian Iberia, 550 BC–AD 562. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

External links

• Historical Monuments of Mtskheta — UNESCO World Heritage Centre
• Historical Monuments of Mtskheta — Documents and Decisions — UNESCO World Heritage Centre
• Historical Monuments of Mtskheta — Maps — UNESCO World Heritage Centre
• Historical Monuments of Mtskheta — Conservation Assistance — UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Gallery

Samtavro necropolis

Stele of Vespasian

Stele of Serapeitis

Tomb of Vakhtang I

Jvari monastery

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

Fresco from Svetitskhoveli Cathedral depicting Jesus Christ

Fresco from Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

Samtavro monastery

Bebris tsikhe

Heraclean walls

Palace of anthony

Tomb of Heraclius II

Modern Mtskheta