Professor Roberto Nardi, director of the mosaic conservation programme, and a multidisciplinary team from the Archaeological Centre of Rome are on a working mission in Georgia as part of the next phase of the conservation programme for the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God at Gelati Monastery, Georgia’s Ministry of Culture reported.

“The conservation programme is divided into two main phases: the first phase will implement preventive conservation, after which Professor Nardi, together with his team members, will develop a complete conservation project, and following agreement with the World Heritage Centre, the second phase will be the full conservation works on the mosaic composition.

It should be noted that the documentation developed by Professor Roberto Nardi and his team, which included a detailed condition survey report and a project programme for future actions with a corresponding roadmap, was positively assessed by the advisory bodies of the World Heritage Convention.

The implementation of the preventive conservation project for Gelati’s mosaic is scheduled to take place in stages, concluding by the end of April 2026. The final stage will involve dismantling the mosaic’s protective and supporting structure.

In parallel, the conservation programme for the wall paintings of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Mother of God at Gelati continues. Within this framework, a multidisciplinary team comprising Georgian and international wall painting experts undertook a joint working mission to address complex issues in detail and to plan subsequent conservation measures. Stephen Rickerby and Lisa Shekede lead the team specialising in wall painting conservation.

The works underway at Gelati were presented to Deputy Minister of Culture Teimuraz Gamtsemlidze and Deputy Director of the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation Nugzar Chkheidze by Deputy Chairman of the Gelati Rehabilitation Temporary Committee, Archimandrite Kirion, and Head of the National Scientific Council of the same committee, Davit Lortkipanidze.

The Georgian Patriarchate leads the Gelati Rehabilitation Project. The Gelati Rehabilitation Temporary Committee carries it out with support from the state,” notes the Ministry of Culture’s information.