Bedia Cathedral

Infobox religious building
building_name=Bedia Cathedral


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location=Agubedia, Tkvarcheli district, Abkhazia (Georgia)
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religious_affiliation=Georgian Orthodox
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status=Cathedral
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year_completed=999, during the reign of King Bagrat III of Georgia
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Bedia Cathedral is a medieval Georgian Orthodox cathedral located in Agubedia, in the de facto independent Republic of Abkhazia, internationally recognised to constitute a part of Georgia.

Bedia Cathedral was originally built at the close of the 10th century and consecrated in 999 on the behest of King Bagrat III of Georgia who was interred at the church. The extant edifices, however, date back to the 13th-14th centuries and include a domed cruciform church, a belltower resting upon the northern narthex and the ruins of an old palace. The southern wall of the main church contains fragments of contemporary murals, including the portraits of Bagrat III and the representatives of the Dadiani noble family of Georgia.

In the Catholicate of Abkhazia, Bedia was the centre of a diocese and the seat of a Bishop. In the 17th century, services were ceased, but resumed from the second half of the 19th century onwards. Currently, the cathedral is being renovated.Fact|date=November 2007

External links

* [http://www.abkhazian-churches.ru/bedija.html Photographs and background information] languageicon|ru|Russian