Section 05: Svetitskhoveli and the Living Pillar

The miracle of the living pillar and the cathedral that took its name from it, with the Robe-of-Christ tradition woven around it. The first file tells the column miracle in both layers — Rufinus’s column raised of itself by the captive’s night of prayer, and the developed Georgian version of the seventh pillar, cut from the cedar over Sidonia’s grave, raised by an angel and flowing with healing myrrh, whence the cathedral is called Svetitskhoveli, “the Life-Giving Pillar.” The second file sets out the Robe-of-Christ tradition that the developed layer ties to the site: Elioz bringing the seamless Robe from Jerusalem, his sister Sidonia dying clutching it, the cedar over her grave — reported as tradition and pinned to its source.

Tradition: Georgian Orthodox / Pan-Orthodox

Contents

File Topic
The Living Pillar The building of the first church at Mtskheta; the column that would not be raised until the saint’s prayer — Rufinus’s bare column and the developed Georgian seventh pillar with its angel and myrrh; the name Sveti-tskhoveli, “the Life-Giving Pillar”; the cathedral on the site
The Robe of Christ Tradition The tradition linking Mtskheta to the Robe of Christ: Elioz of Mtskheta and his sister Sidonia, the cedar over her grave, the Robe beneath the pillar — reported as developed-layer tradition pinned to its source; the two distinct Sidonias the tradition sometimes conflates

How to Use

  • Read The Living Pillar for the trajectory from Rufinus’s simple raised column to the great cathedral of Svetitskhoveli, and for the meaning of the cathedral’s name.
  • Read The Robe of Christ Tradition for the Mtskheta Robe complex — reported as Georgian tradition, distinguished from the early layer, with the two-Sidonias confusion untangled.
  • Svetitskhoveli as the patriarchal mother church is treated in Georgian Christianity After Nino.

Cross-References