The National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia evaluates the ongoing process of marble flooring at St. Nikoloz Kintsvisi Church as illegal, - the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia said in a statement on Saturday.

According to their information, the process is organized by local clergymen. The agency explains that the works that are being carried out ignore state institutions and proper restoration methodology and are in complete contravention of current legislation and principles of monument protection, grossly violate general national values and significantly damage the cultural heritage.

The statement reads that despite a number of attempts, the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation failed to prevent the works on time.

“Local clergymen did not allow the agency’s supervisory team to enter the territory of the monastery complex. The process, launched upon the initiative of the local clergymen, has not been suspended even after public statements by senior officials of the Georgian Patriarchate, which coincided with the agency's position.

The works were assessed as illegal by the Council of the Center of Architecture, Art and Restoration of the Patriarchate and the Council of Epichristian and Medieval Cultural Heritage under the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia. According to their unanimous decision, the newly made floor tiles should be dismantled and should be paved with a neutral color stone, to have a mixed Georgian style.

Under the conditions of normalization of relations with Ruis-Urbnisi eparchy, the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia is ready to prepare the methodologically valid rehabilitation project of Kintvisi Monastery Complex, based on the recommendations of qualified specialists and to monitor the implementation process, which include rehabilitation of the church floor and other problematic directions,” the statement reads.