Georgian Culture Minister inspects Alaverdi Monastery affected by natural disaster in eastern Kakheti region

Georgian Culture Minister Thea Tsulukiani on Wednesday inspected the damaged tin cover of the roofing of the Alaverdi Monastery and surrounding infrastructure, caused by strong winds in the country’s eastern Kakheti region on Tuesday, the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation said.

The Agency said Tsulukiani, along with the Director of the Agency Nikoloz Aznaurashvili, its representatives, an architect-restorer, and Giorgi Aladashvili, the state representative in the Kakheti region, had got acquainted with the situation created in the monastery.

While discussing how to eliminate the harm to the 11th-century CE cathedral with Abba Alaverdeli Metropolitan David and the Agency’s representatives, Tsulukiani noted the damage to the dome of the main church was “worthy of special attention”, and added the employees of the Agency were assessing the situation and discussing locally the ways to solve the problems.

The Minister also pointed out the need to construct a scaffold to allow specialists to work on the dome, noting a medium-term project would be created to protect the cathedral from similar threats in the future.

The strong winds that hit the area damaged the tin cover of the roofing of the Monastery, the damage also came on the southern slope of the cathedral, with windows on the western side broken and the dome also damaged.

The natural disaster also affected the tin and tile roofs of the bell tower and the episcopal palace, while the balcony of the palace collapsed and a cross fell from the dome of the cathedral. The winds also damaged infrastructure in surrounding areas.