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Batumi, Parnavaz Mepe Street No. 20
Brief description of the monument:
St. Nicholas Church was constructed between 1865 and 1871 by the local Greek community, at a time when Batumi was still part of the Ottoman Empire. The church was closed in the 1930s but was reopened for worship in 1948 through the intercession of Catholicos-Patriarch Kalistrate. Originally, the building was constructed in a Russian classical style. Its present Byzantine-inspired appearance dates from a 2009 reconstruction, during which horizontal stripes of red and white bricks and plaster were introduced. The church interior was decorated with murals in 2002.
The church, enclosed by a fence, stands prominently at the intersection of two streets in a densely built urban environment. Architecturally, the structure is a domed cross-in-square type, with the dome drum supported by four free-standing columns. Three projecting apses extend from its eastern side. A narthex occupies the western end of the church, topped by a gallery (patronike), above which rises a bell tower. Beside the southern entrance, a stone plaque bears a relief depiction of St. Nicholas with a Greek inscription noting the dates marking the church’s construction. Additionally, several Greek and Russian inscribed marble gravestones are incorporated into the church’s façades (two on the northern side and one on the southern).
Despite significant alterations, the church is historically significant as one of the city s early ecclesiastical structures. Currently, St. Nicholas Church is owned by the Georgian Orthodox Church.
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