Anchiskhati Basilica (the Church of the Nativity of the virgin Mary) is one of the oldest buildings and the oldest surviving until the present day churches of Tbilisi. Built in the VI century, the Church is a Basilica with apses, in the shape of a horseshoe, which also indicates the antiquity of the building.

Initially the temple was built of blocks of yellow tuff, but in 1958-1964 G. during the restoration used the usual brick. The temple has three outputs with different parties, is now used only one. All Church icons date from the XIX century, in addition to the altarpiece, which was established in 1683 by the order of Catholicos Nikoloz VI.

According to the ancient Georgian Chronicles, the temple was built by the king of Iberia Villas Carmeli (522-534.), who made Tbilisi his capital.
Dedicated to the Nativity of the virgin Mary, the temple received its second name Anchiskhati after 1664 in honour of the icon of the Savior, which was moved from Anisova Cathedral. In this way, the priests tried to save valuable icon from the Ottoman Turks. In the XII century, the goldsmith B. Opipari did for the old icons silver frame with gold accents. In the Church Anchiskhati icon was kept for about 200 years. Then it was moved to the Museum of arts of Georgia.

From the XV to the XVII century due to frequent wars with Georgia and the Turks and Persians, the temple was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. In the second half of the XVII century the Church building was completely renovated. Restoration work was led by Catholicos of Kartli Dementi. In the 1870s, the Church has added arch. In the XIX century with West side Anchiskhati Basilica was built adjoining the bell tower and built the dome. As for the paintings, they also refer to article XIX

In Soviet times the Church was converted into a Museum of Handicrafts, after it housed an art Studio. During 1958-1964 the Church underwent restoration work, which gave him back his original appearance. The work was supervised by architect R. Gverdtsiteli. In 1989 the Church of the Nativity of the virgin Mary once again opened its doors to parishioners.