The President of Georgia visited Poti and inspected the rehabilitation works of the Poti St. Mary Church. As Mikheil Saakashvili noted, the church will have its original appearance restored which is very important.

“This place was not for a theater and the important thing is that a church will be here. One of the first things I did in 2004 was to come here with the Patriarch and give this building back to the church. A dispute regarding this issue existed under every government, but nothing ever changed. We will also take care of the theater. We are building a very beautiful cultural center. When this church was built the managers of the theater would never think that a theater would also be located here. Poti was always a cultural center of Georgia. When Niko Nikoladze and others founded Poti back in the day, they first of all built a church. The idea was to have a grandiose church in Poti and build a grandiose city around it. As time went by, the church lost its glory and the city was not built as intended. The most important thing is to restore the churches’ original brilliance and appearance that was intended from the beginning. Everything should be organized as the founders of Poti had in mind. Some people were only making money at the Poti port, but people will live in a very cool city now. This is our goal” – stated Mikheil Saakashvili.

In his turn Bishop Grilgol thanked the President for his support. and noted that Poti will become a spiritual and cultural center of Western Georgian.

“You said historic words back then: What belongs to the church is now being returned to the church. This was one of the biggest signs of the positive process that is currently going on in the country. I am glad that along with the church an incredibly glorious theater is being built which will be a cultural and spiritual center of Western Georgia” – noted Bishop Grigol.

Mikheil Saakashvili arrived at the Poti St. Mary Church with the Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Ramaz Nikolaishvili.

The rehabilitation of the Poti Church will be financed from the Presidential Foundation and the project envisions not only restoring the church, but organizing the territory around as well. The construction works will end in mid September.

The Poti Cathedral was built in 1906 but in 1936 the building was given to the Poti Theater by decision of the Soviet government. After the Rose Revolution, the building was returned to the Patriarchate of Georgia by decision of Mikheil Saakashvili.