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At the end of seventeenth century Catholicos-Patriarch Ioane gave the title of Metropolitan to the Bishop of Tbilisi. Then, in 1794, King Erekle II of Kartli and Kakheti not only agreed with this decision but he returned the previous honor to Bishop of Tbilisi. In the decree the King said: the "Bishop of Tbilisi had a higher place in Church at councils... even when it was not capital, but Kutaisi... and he had privileges". The hierarchs of Tbilisi continued to use the title and privileges until the unions of Georgia with Russia and the Church of Georgia with [[Church of Russia]]. At that time the two dioceses of Mtskheta and Tbilisi were joined under the omophor of the [[Exarch of Georgia]].
With the restoration of autocephaly in 1917 the separate dioceses of Mtskheta and Tbilisi were restored. At the second Church Council on [[July 20]], 1920 these two dioceses were again united, now under omophor of the Georgian patriarch, and the words “Archbishop "Archbishop of Mtskheta and Tbilisi" were added to primatial title. ==The Diocese==The Diocese of Mtskheta and Tbilisi includes Tbilisi, which is the capital city of Georgia and the city and district of Mtskheta, except Tsilkani. There are three Patriarchal cathedrae in the diocese, Svetitskhoveli in Mtskheta, Sioni (Zion) and Sameba (Trinity) in Tbilisi. There are 109 active churches in the diocese, and twelve [[monastery|monasteries]] of which seven are for males and five for females. The [[Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary]] is also located within the diocese. ==External link==*[http://www.osgf.ge/tta/ Tbilisi Theological Academy and Seminary] [[Category:Dioceses]][[Category:Georgian Dioceses]]
