Place:Lazica, Georgia (country)

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The Kingdom of Lazica (Lazikē, Laz: Laziǩa / ლაზიკა, , Yeger) or Kingdom of Egrisi was an ancient Georgian monarchy in western Georgia. The kingdom flourished between the 1st century BC and the 7th century AD.

It covered part of the territory of the former kingdom Colchis and subjugated the territory of modern day Abkhazia. Throughout much of its existence, it was mainly a Byzantine strategic vassal kingdom occasionally coming under Sassanid Persian rule.

In the early 4th century, the Christian Eparchy or bishopric of Pitiunt (ბიჭვინთა Bichvinta in Georgian) was established in this kingdom, as in another eastern Georgian kingdom of Iberia Christianity was declared as an official religion of the kingdom in 319 AD. In 325 among the participants of the First Council of Nicaea was the Bishop of Pitiunt, Stratophilus. The first Christian king of Lazica was Gubazes I; in the 5th century, Christianity was made the official religion of Lazica. Later, the nobility and clergy of Lazica switched from the Hellenic ecclesiastic tradition to the Georgian; and Georgian became the language of culture and education. The Bichvinta Cathedral is one of oldest monuments of the Georgian Christian architecture constructed by the Georgian King Bagrat III of the Bagrationi Royal House in the late 10th century.^[1] It was under Bagrat III, that Lazica unified with the eastern Georgian lands of Iberia-Kartli to form a united Kingdom of Georgia. Lazica is a historical region.

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