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The active history of Christianity in Georgia begins with the missionary activities of [[Nino of Cappadocia]] beginning in 303. By 317 her message reached the rulers of the eastern and western kingdoms of Georgia when King Miriam II of Iberia (Eastern Georgia) and Queen Nana of Western Georgia adopted Christianity as the state religion. The Christianization of Georgia progressed over the next several centuries.
As part of the late Roman (Byzantine) Empire Georgian Christianity was heavily influenced by its form of practice. Initially, the churches in Georgia were part of the Apostolic See of Antioch. The Church of Georgia became [[autocephaly|autocephalous]] when the Patriarch of Antioch elevated the [[bishop]] of Mtskheta to the honor of Catholicos of Kastli in 466, an elevation recognized by the rest of the Church. Subsequently, the [[Catholicos ]] was given the added title of [[Patriarch]] in 1010, making the title of the primate of the Georgian Church the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia.
The invasions of the tartars in the 13th and 15th centuries greatly disrupted Christianity and the government of Georgia. The state as well as the church were divided into two separate parts, in which the churches were governed by two separate Catholicos-Patriarchs. In 1801, Eastern Georgia, that is Kartli-Kakheti, was annexed by the Czar of Russia. By 1811, the Church in Georgia was absorbed into the Synodal Church of Russia, ending autocephaly for the Georgian church.
