Dositheus of Tbilisi information

Dositheus (Dositeoz Tbileli; Georgian: დოსითეოზ თბილელი, died 12 September 1795) was a hierarch of the Georgian Orthodox Church and Archbishop of Tbilisi canonized as a martyr for his death at the hands of the Iranian soldiers in 1795.

Dositheus was a priest confessor of Queen Darejan Dadiani, consort of King Heraclius II of Georgia, and metropolitan bishop of Tbilisi.^[1] When the city of Tbilisi fell to the invading army of Agha Muhammad Khan Qajar, ruler of Iran, in the aftermath of the Battle of Krtsanisi in September 1795, a group of Qajar soldiers found the elderly Dositheus at the Sioni Cathedral kneeling before the icon of Virgin Mary and threw him to his death into the Kura River.^[2] Dositheus was subsequently canonized as a hieromartyr, his feast day marked on 12 September, the day of his death.^[1]