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Trialeti Lutheran Church

Trialeti Lutheran Church

The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Georgia has a history of two centuries, uniting multiple parishes and boasts a membership of almost 1,000.
Region
Kvemo Kartli
City
Tsalka

The History of Trialeti Evangelical-Lutheran Church

In the first half of the 19th century, the German Lutherans were resettled to Georgia by the Russian Tsarist government, who thought that the Germans could help developing local agriculture. In 1857, the Germans colonists founded the colony of Alexandershilf in the place where the current-day village of Trialeti now stands. 

The Trialeti Lutheran Church was built in 1906, and stands at the intersection of the main street of the village, with its gate to the south.

The exterior has been preserved almost unchanged, but the interior was irreparably damaged during the 1930s, when the Soviet government banned worship. The Germans themselves were resettled to Siberia and Central Asia on the order of Stalin at the beginning of the Second World War. During this dark time, Trialeti Church was first turned into a warehouse, then a club, and then into a movie theatre. The church has not returned to religious use and is closed for visitors (as for 2023).

In honour of the artistic, architectural, and historical value of the building, Trialeti Evangelical-Lutheran Church was granted the status of a Cultural Heritage Monument in 2016.

Monuments like this can really tell you quite a bit about the relationship between Georgians and Germans.

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