Cathedral Restoration Causes Headache For Georgian President

Coilin O’Connor with contributions from RFE/RL correspondent Merkhat Sharipzhanov and RFE/RL’s Georgian Service 19/6/2012 Georgian Orthodox Patriarch Ilia II has ordered the suspension of restoration work at the world-renowned Bagrati Cathedral. The announcement on June 18 by Georgia’s State Agency for National Heritage Preservation could have major political repercussions for President Mikheil Saakashvili, who had strongly backed the reconstruction project. The 11th-century cathedral, which is currently cloaked in scaffolding, is widely regarded as a masterpiece of medieval Georgian architecture