That is why Georgia is considered to be the country allotted to the Most Holy Mother of God, and why She is the protector of Georgia. By God's Will, the Mother of God stayed in Jerusalem, whilst St Andrew the First-Called went to preach in Georgia with the Holy Mother's Uncreated Icon. Together with St. Andrew the First-Called, the Gospel was preached in Georgia by the Holy Apostle Simon the Canaanite (who was to be buried in the village of Comani, near Sokhumi). Georgia also embraced another Holy Apostle, St. Matthata, who preached in south-western Georgia, and is buried in the village of Gonio (near Batumi). Old Christian sources point also to the fact of the Holy Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus being in Georgia.

In the IV century, St. Nino, a Cappadocian slave and close relative of St. George, came to Kartli from Jerusalem to fulfil the Holy Mother of God's will (announced to her through a revelation) to preach the Christian faith. St. Nino's grace and the strength of her word converted Nana, the Queen of Kartli, and then King Mirian to Christianity. In 326 - before the arrival of the clergy in Mtskheta, the capital city of Kartli - construction began on the first church at the very place where the Lord's chiton had been buried.

That place is the spiritual centre of the Georgian nation. There was built the Patriarchal Cathedral Svetitskhoveli, dedicated in honour of the Twelve Holy Apostles. 

In the late V  century, the Patriarchate of Antioch granted self-governance (autocephaly) to the Church of Kartli.
Since that time, Georgia and its Holy Church have steadily followed the path of Christianity, unconquerably preserving the orthodox teachings. The Georgian people managed to preserve their state system and protect the Orthodox faith during the hardest battles; many clerics or lay persons died as Martyrs for their Faith.

It would be difficult to find in world history such an example of martyrdom as that which happened in Tbilisi in 1226, when 100,000 faithful were crowned as martyrs because they refused to obey the orders of Jalal Uddin, the Shah of Khorezm. These thousands - be they man or woman or child - were beheaded, and the icons of the Saviour and of the Holy Mother of God were spat upon and placed face up on a bridge for all to trampled them under foot. In 1616, during the invasion of the Shah Abbas the First, Shah of Persia, 6,000 monks died as martyrs for the name of Jesus Christ at the monastery of St. David of Garedja.

In the wilderness of David-Garejeli in Georgia there were twelve monasteries, in which monks had lived the ascetic life for centuries. In 1615, Shah Abbas I invaded Georgia, laid it waste and slew innumerable Christians. One day, while out hunting at dawn on Easter Day itself, he saw the light of many candles shining in the hills. This was the monks of all twelve monasteries in procession all round the Church of the Resurrection, walking with candles in their hands.

When the Shah discovered that it was monks, he asked in disbelief: `Isn't the whole of Georgia put to the sword by now?', and ordered his generals to go and slaughter the monks at once. An angel of God appeared to Abbot Arsenius, and revealed their imminent death to him, and Arsenius informed the brethren. They then all received Communion in the Holy Mysteries and prepared for death. Then the attackers arrived, hacked the abbot to pieces when he came out ahead of the others, and then killed all the rest producing some 6,000 martyrs of Georgia.

They all suffered with honour and were crowned with unfading wreaths in 1615. Thus ended the history of these famous monasteries, which had been like a flame of spiritual enlightenment in Georgia for more than 1,000 years. There remain just two today: St David and St John the Baptist. The King of Georgia, Archil, gathered the remains of all the martyrs and buried them. Their relics are to this day full of myrrh for the healing of those in sickness.

The territory of Georgia is a multitude of churches and monasteries. There are hundreds of churches built in the name of St. George alone, who is considered as a protector of Georgia and to whom special honour is due.

A number of churches and monasteries became centres of education and culture. The whole Orthodox world recognized the monasteries of Gelati and of Ikalto as important centres of theology, education, and science.

Georgian religious art is expressed in monumental paintings, frescoes, mosaics, miniatures, and cloisonné enamels. There have been well-developed and original civic and temple architectures for centuries, examples of which are considered to rank amongst some of the finest buildings in the world.
     Georgians built churches and monasteries not only in Georgia but also outside of their borders, as in Palestine, Syria, Cyprus, Greece, and Bulgaria. The most important of these are thought to be: the monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (at present under the jurisdiction of the Greek Patriarchate in Jerusalem); the monastery of St. James in Jerusalem (at present under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Armenian Church); the monastery of Iveron on Mount Athos (home of the famous "wonder-working Iberian Icon of the Mother of God"); and the monastery of Petritsoni (now Bachkovo) in Bulgaria. Many illustrious Georgian theologians, philosophers, writers, and translators were active in Georgia and elsewhere in various periods. Notable among them were Petre Iberi (Peter the Iberian); Ephrem Mtsire (Ephraim the Lesser); Ekvtime (Euthymius); Giorgi Mtatsmindeli (George of Athos); Ioane Petritsi (John of Petritsoni).

In 1811 the Court of the Tsar of Russia unlawfully abolished the autocephalous status of the Church of Georgia, did away with patriarchal rule and the rights of the exarchate, and subjected the Church to the synodical rule of the Russian Church. These were subsequently restored following the Russian Revolution of 1917.

In 1989 the Ecumenical Patriarchate recognized and approved the Autocephaly exercised since the V century as well as the Patriarchal honour of the Catholicos