Inside Tbilisi’s Small, Yet Resilient Armenian Catholic Community

Just off Tbilisi’s Marjanishvili Street lies the beautiful Saint Peter & Paul church. This Catholic house of worship, built in the Baroque style as part of a Zubalashvili Brothers initiative, was completed in 1877. The parish has served as a focal point for the city’s Catholic community ever since—bringing together ethnic Armenians, Georgians, Russians, and Western expats around a common faith.

While some of the city’s lesser Catholic sites were closed by Soviet authorities, as were the many Armenian Apostolic churches, Saint Peter & Paul church survived until Independence. The church was later renovated in time for the official visit of Pope John Paul II, who celebrated mass there in October of 1999. This event was immortalized by the erection of a statue of the pontiff just south of the church entrance.