Church Built On Rocks, Georgia

The Constitution of Georgia recognizes the special role of the Georgian Orthodox Church in the country's history, but also stipulates the independence of the church from the state. The relations between the State and the Church are regulated by the Constitutional Agreement of 2002.
According to tradition, when the Apostles were sent out to preach the Gospel to the nations of the world, the Apostle Andrew the First-called went to preach in the districts of the Caucasus corresponding to modern Georgia (ancient Colchis and Iberia), taking with him the Holy Mother's Uncreated Icon (an icon of the Virgin Mary that tradition holds was not made by human hands). Another tradition says that the Apostle Simon the Canaanite (better known in the West as Simon the Zealot) also travelled to the Caucasus, and Georgian tradition holds that he preached in Western Georgia and was buried near Sokhumi, in the village of Anakopia. Another Apostle, Saint Matthias, is said to have preached in the southwest of Georgia, and to have been buried in Gonio, a village not far from Batumi. Some Christian sources also attest to the presence in Georgia of the Apostles Bartholomew and Thaddeus who came north from Armenia.