The Holy Hieromartyr Dositheus, Archbishop of Tbilisi
Life
Dositheus (Georgian: დოსითეოზ თბილელი, Dositeoz Tbileli; died 12 September 1795) was a hierarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church who served as metropolitan bishop, or archbishop, of Tbilisi. He was canonized as a martyr after he was killed by Iranian soldiers during the sack of Tbilisi in 1795.
Before his death he served as priest-confessor to Queen Darejan Dadiani, consort of King Heraclius II of Georgia. He is commemorated on January 25 and on September 12, the date of his martyrdom.
Timeline 3 moments
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18th centuryService in TbilisiDositheus serves as metropolitan bishop (archbishop) of Tbilisi and as priest-confessor to Queen Darejan Dadiani, consort of King Heraclius II of Georgia.
September 1795Battle of Krtsanisi and sack of TbilisiAgha Muhammad Khan Qajar's army, numbering some thirty-five thousand soldiers, defeats Georgian forces at Krtsanisi and breaks into Tbilisi, sacking the city.
12 September 1795MartyrdomQajar soldiers find the elderly Dositheus kneeling before the icon of the Virgin Mary at Sioni Cathedral and throw him into the Kura River, where he dies.
Contributions & Legacy
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Historical Context
In 1795 the Iranian ruler Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar led an army against Georgia. According to the OCA Synaxarion, thirty-five thousand Persian soldiers marched toward the kingdom that year.
Following the Battle of Krtsanisi in September 1795, Qajar's forces broke into Tbilisi. Sources describe the sack as catastrophic: an eyewitness account records the slaughter of women and children and more than a thousand corpses found in a single structure, with buildings still smoldering. The army withdrew laden with spoil and carrying off some fifteen thousand captives.
Among those killed in the city was Dositheus, the archbishop of Tbilisi.
Martyrdom
When Qajar soldiers entered Sioni Cathedral, they found the elderly Dositheus there. According to historical records, he was kneeling before the icon of the Virgin Mary when the soldiers threw him into the Kura River, causing his death.
He was subsequently canonized as a hieromartyr, with his commemoration fixed on September 12, the date of his martyrdom.
Relics & Shrines
Dositheus was martyred at Sioni Cathedral in Tbilisi, a church first built in the sixth and seventh centuries and rebuilt by King David the Builder in 1112. The cathedral was damaged during the Persian invasion of 1795, and its wooden iconostasis burned; a stone iconostasis was created in the 1850s to replace what had been destroyed.
