Day of Family Purity and Respect for Parents to be marked in 25 cities of Georgia

Processions will be held across Georgia on Friday to mark the Day of Family Purity and Respect for Parents, with 25 cities including capital Tbilisi hosting the occasion.

The Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church said the gatherings were aiming to honour the “significance of family and parental respect”.

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Tbilisi City Hall said traffic would be restricted on certain streets to allow the planned march in the city.

The procession in Tbilisi is planned to start near Kashveti Cathedral on Rustaveli Avenue at 12pm and head towards Trinity Cathedral in Avlabari District. 

The road section from the intersection of Gia Chanturia Street to Freedom Square, the Square itself, Baratashvili Bridge, Baratashvili Ascent and Avlabari Square will be closed to traffic, the City Hall said.

Buses and minibuses operating on Rustaveli Avenue will be rerouted from Chanturia Street to Virsaladze Street, passing the right bank of Mtkvari River, turning on the ramp near the Ministry of Justice and continuing along Mikheil Javakhishvili Street towards the Tbilisi Concert Hall, the body added.

Public transport operating from the Tbilisi-Kojori highway towards Freedom Square will stop at 11 Amaghleba Street and serve passengers in the reverse direction from the same address. 

Transport heading towards Avlabari Square will only move to Lekh Kaczynski Street. Specifically, public transport will connect to Bochormi Street by turning left from Kaczynski Street, then move to Tsinandali Street near the 300 Aragveli metro station and continue to Ketevan Dedopali Avenue according to the established schedule, the body also noted.

Designated by the Patriarchate, the date has been marked annually in Georgia since the 2010s.