Catholicate of Abkhazia

The Catholicate of Abkhazia (Georgian: აფხაზეთის საკათალიკოსო, Greek: Καθολικος Αμπχαζία) was a subdivision of the Georgian Orthodox Church that existed as an independent entity in western Georgia from the 1470s to 1814. It was headed by the Catholicos (later, Catholicos Patriarch) of Abkhazia, officially styled as the Catholicos Patriarch of Imereti, Odishi, Ponto-Abkhaz-Guria, Racha-Lechkhum-Svaneti, Ossetians, Dvals, and all of the North. The residence of the Catholicoi was at Bichvinta (now Pitsunda) in Abkhazia (hence, the name of the Catholicate), but was moved to the Gelati Monastery in the late 16th century. In 1814, the last Catholicos of Abkhazia was removed from his office by Imperial Russia which would take control of Georgian church until 1917.