The Georgian government will set up a commission for developing the concept for a Georgian cultural centre near the site of the baptism of Jesus Christ in Jordan, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday.

The cultural centre will be launched on a plot of land gifted by Jordan’s royal family to Georgia earlier this month, a development the Georgian PM said marked a “return to the holy land” for Georgians.

• Georgian cultural centre to open on plot presented by Jordan’s royals to country

In his comments earlier today, Garibashvili once again emphasised the role of the Georgian Patriarch Ilia II in the work on opening the cultural centre. On January 19 the head of the government revealed the opening of the cultural venue would take place with the blessing of the Georgian Patriarch.

The PM also thanked the royals of Jordan - His Majesty King Abullah II and His Royal Highness Prince Ghazi bin Muhammed of Jordan - as well as Patriarch Theophilus III of Jerusalem and others involved in the transfer of the 4,000-square metre plot.

Both the secular and clerical authorities were involved in the transfer of the 4,000-square metre plot near the Jordan River that flows through the Sea of Galilee lake and towards the Dead Sea.

The river bears symbolic significance in both Judaism and Christianity, and is bordered by the West Bank and Israel on the west, and by Jordan and the Golan Heights to the east.

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