The story of the forty Martyrs of Sebaste - a reward for faith. Temple and archaeological museum in Tbilisi.
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Find out more about the Church of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste⬇️
The Church of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste was restored on the initiative of the Catholicos Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II in 2010 and consecrated in honor of the holy Forty Martyrs of Sebaste.
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The History of the Martyrs of Sebaste
In 313, Saint Constantine the Great issued a decree according to which Christians were allowed freedom of religion and equal rights with pagans. But his co-ruler Licinius was a convinced pagan and decided to eradicate Christianity in his part of the empire, which had spread significantly there. Licinius was preparing for war against Constantine and, fearing treason, decided to cleanse his army of Christianity. At that time, in the Armenian city of Sebaste, one of the military leaders was Agricolaus, a zealous supporter of paganism. Under his command was a squad of forty Cappadocians, brave warriors who had emerged victorious from many battles. They were all Christians. When the warriors refused to sacrifice to the pagan gods, Agricolaus imprisoned them. It was winter, there was a severe frost. The holy warriors were stripped, led to the lake and placed under guard on the ice for the entire night. In order to break the will of the martyrs, a bathhouse was heated nearby on the shore. At one o'clock in the morning, when the cold became unbearable, one of the soldiers could not stand it and rushed to the bathhouse, but as soon as he crossed the threshold, he fell down dead. At three o'clock in the morning, the Lord sent consolation to the martyrs. Suddenly it became light, the ice melted, and the water in the lake became warm. All the guards were asleep, only one by the name of Aglai was awake. Looking at the lake, he saw that a bright crown had appeared over the head of each martyr. Aglai counted thirty-nine crowns and realized that the fleeing soldier had lost his crown. Then Aglai woke up the rest of the guards, threw off his clothes and said to them: "I am a Christian" and joined the martyrs. The holy martyrs, withstanding the winter frost by a divine miracle, fell into eternal sleep in the morning. Their relics rest in Sebaste, where a forty-domed church of the forty martyrs was later built, which was destroyed during the invasion of Link Temur. This place was built up from ancient times.
The Historical Value of the Excavations of the Church of Sebaste for Georgia
Archaeological excavations have uncovered a Roman thermal bath under the mountain. This is a whole complex built in the first and third centuries AD using the highest quality materials. Unique qvevri from the first century, a water supply system, a fortress wall with remains of baths, tiles and various utensils were found. All this is collected in the courtyard, so this is not just a functioning church, but also an open-air museum. All the finds here are absolutely random, discovered when they were looking for the ruins of the Church of the Martyrs of Sebaste. Gradually, the picture of the history of Tbilisi began to change, which turned out to be much older than scientists thought. King Vakhtang Gorgasali did not build a new city, he only moved the capital from Mtskheta to Tbilisi, and the legend about the pheasant is just a beautiful fairy tale. Under Gorgasali, there was a fortress wall and thermal baths of the first century, and on Roman maps Tbilisi is marked as a well-fortified point and is called Filada. On the church grounds you can see the ruins of a bathhouse from the 3rd century AD. Excavations are carried out here every summer. It was discovered when they started building a building on this site. The bathhouse has not been fully excavated yet, but its size is impressive.
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