Saint George's Church stands at 5 Samghebro Street in Tbilisi, in the southwestern corner of Vakhtang Gorgasali Square, overlooked by Narikala fortress. It belongs to the Armenian Apostolic Church and is the cathedral of the Georgian Diocese. Armenian historians date it to 1251 from an Arabic inscription, although the Armenian Diocese suggests it may date to 631. The chronicler Hovhannes Erznkatsi credits Prince Umek of Karin as the builder, and the Diocese says he rebuilt it. It has an open cross plan in brick.
It was given to a Persian garrison in 1616 and returned to the Armenian community in 1748. It burned in the Persian sack of Tbilisi in 1795 and was restored in 1832 and 1881. It became the seat of the diocese after the Soviet authorities demolished Vank Cathedral in the 1930s.
A renovation costing about 3.5 million dollars was completed in 2015, and the church was reconsecrated on October 31, 2015.
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