Hospitable Abkhazia is not only the warm sea, excellent cuisine and delicious mountain air. For lovers of excursion routes, there are completely unique historical monuments of antiquity, among which the Dranda Cathedral is a magnificent building, preserved from the time of the Byzantine Empire. The monument of the VI century dates back to the time when the Christianization of Abkhaz tribes Justinian the Great began. Let's talk about the reasons why you should visit the oldest cathedral.
Dranda Cathedral: how to get there
The temple is located east of Sukhum, in the Gulrypsh region, which is not a resort area. Between the rivers Adzapsh and Maly Kodor on the territory of the Dranda Plateau from ancient times, there is a village of the same name, where you need to get. In the central square next to the cafe there are signs that urge you to turn left and go uphill for about 800 meters, where you can see the cathedral, often called the Assumption, because it was built in honor of the Assumption of the Mother of God. It stands on a hilly plain, and from east and west it is bounded by cliffs. They say that at the foot of the plateau the Kodor River once flowed. This wonderful place surrounded by cypresses and magnolias was chosen in the VI century for the construction of one of the first Christian churches. Consider three possible options for how to get to the village of Dranda:
- For motorists visiting Abkhazia by car, you should drive 20 km from Sukhum along the road to Ochamchira.
- You can visit the Dranda Cathedral with a guided tour offered daily by Abkhaz tour operators. Groups are also being formed from Adler, which is very convenient for Russians who do not want to spend time crossing the border. In order to enter the territory of Abkhazia, it is enough to have an ordinary passport.
- From Sukhumi to Dranda can be reached by bus. From the bus station there are routes to Ochamchira, Gali and Tkuarchal, which pass through the territory of the Gulrypsh region.
A bit of history
The first mention of the temple belongs to the historian Procopius of Caesarea, a contemporary of the emperor Justinian. The cathedral was built of large Byzantine bricks and boulders. The first Christian churches did not have domes, here you can see the cross-domed building, because the shape of the cross is recreated on the plan, the center of which is a circle. This is a dome projection. Immediately, the temple became the residence of the bishop, it held services for parishioners. In the XVII century, the cathedral was destroyed and plundered by the Turks, who planted Islam among the Abkhaz.
In the 19th century, Russia allocated funds for the restoration of the cathedral. This happened in 1869, and two years later church services were resumed. According to historian D. Bakradze, the Dranda Cathedral in Abkhazia was a beautiful building with marble columns and gilded windows, also decorated with marble on the outside. But during the Russo-Turkish war, the temple was again destroyed. The heyday of the Christian church was the arrival of monks from Greek Athos and the creation of a monastery at the cathedral. It lasted from 1880 to 1928. It all started with two monasteries, but then a real underground city was built, economic activity began (its vineyards, orchards, apiary), a school was created at the church. In the monastery lived up to 300 inhabitants. With the establishment of Soviet power, everything was transferred to the collective farm, the buildings were used as administrative, part of the premises belonged to a boarding school for teenagers.
Dranda Cathedral today
Only in 2011, all surviving buildings were returned to the Sukhum-Abkhaz diocese. But one of the churches remained under a local prison, since there were never such establishments in the territory of the country that was previously part of Georgia. This is the nonsense of today. The Dranda Cathedral in Abkhazia, a photo of which can be seen just below, is adjacent to the current prison. The temple was restored, Orthodox services are held in it, so not only lovers of ancient monuments rush here, but also a huge number of pilgrims.
Everyone knows that there is a myrrh-streaming icon. Sufferers dream of putting candles on the face of the great martyr Dimitry of Solunsky, for which they come from the most remote corners of the former Soviet Union. Over its centuries-old history, the temple is one of the most prayed places of interest to true believers.
Description
From afar, the Dranda Cathedral seems to be a squat and gray building. And only when approaching people breathtaking before his splendor. Even inside, the floors are carpeted with parishioners. In the XIX century, the building was plastered, but in some places brickwork appears. This was done specifically so that people feel the touch of a centuries-old history. The sloping dome inside is illuminated by 36 windows. Once it was painted with frescoes depicting the Savior and other saints, but they are not preserved. The dome, having 16 faces, rests on the arches. There is no similar in any other church in the territory of Abkhazia.
In the western part of the temple, a font embedded in the floor has been preserved, where a baptismal ceremony was previously held. At this place a modern one is built, introducing a certain dissonance within the historical place. But you need to understand that the uniqueness of the cathedral is the fact that the building has survived since the VI century, and without completion and restoration work, it cannot function as a functioning church. Inside, there are two marble tombs and something similar to two chapels. In a prominent place you can see the icon of Justinian the Great, considered the founder of the cathedral. It is presented in one of the photographs. We hope that in the article everyone will find the answer to the question why you should definitely visit Dranda.