237 Items
Matskhvarishi village, Latali community, Svaneti
The Church of the Ascension in Matskhvarishi village in the community of Latali in Svaneti was built in C10th-C11th and, as with much of Svaneti it was built in a distinct and more archaic form of architecture than that in the Georgian lowlands. As with other older churches, there is a semi-open arcade on the south aisle with an apse but in this case there does not appear to be a corresponding aisle on the north side as well.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Ascension, C10th-C11th, Church, Georgia, Latali, Matskhvarishi, Zemo Svaneti
Nokalakevi
Nokalakevi is the modern name for ancient Archaeopolis or Tsikhekuji in western Georgia. There were many churches in the settlement, but a C5th-C6th basilica now dedicated to the Forty Martyrs and restored by the National Agency for the Cultural Preservation of Georgia is still in use. There are two other basilicas in the immediate vicinity of the Church of Forty Martyrs but only the foundations of these survive. The excavations are being conducted by an Anglo-Georgian team and a museum beside the site houses a number of early Christian artefacts.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Archaeopolis, Architecture, C5th-C6th, Church, Forty Martyrs, Georgia, Lazica, Nokalakevi, Samegrelo, Sculpture, Tsikhekuji
Ubisa
Ubisa is a complex that developed from the C9th and includes a small church and a "pillar house" to the east of the church. Believed by Georgians to have evolved from the practice of Stylitism that began in C5th Syria, in actual fact this Georgian practice is quite different as a solitary monk would live in a tall house beside a church rather than perpetually stand atop a narrow column.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C9th, Church, Georgia, Imereti, Pillar House, Stylite, Syria, Ubisa
Zarzma
The church at Zarzma was built between the C10th and C16th at a site that is associated with St. Basil, an C8th holy man. There is believed to have been a church on this site since the C8th and a miraculous C9th icon is also linked with the site. Fragments of this icon are still extant in the Art Museum in Tbilisi and in the Hermitage in St. Petersburg.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C10th, C16th, C8th, C9th, Church, Georgia, Icon, Samtskhe-Javakheti, St. Basil, Zarzma
Sapara
The monastery of Sapara dates from the C13th-C14th. It is a metochion of the monastery of St. Saba in Palestine and is currently a seminary of the Georgian Orthodox Church.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C13th-C14th, Church, Georgia, Metochion, Monastery, Palestine, Samtskhe-Javakheti, Sapara, St. Saba
Dmanisi
The C6th basilica in Dmanisi has been substantially altered over time, notably with the addition of a medieval narthex, and is located beside the citadel of the now abandoned city that once stood on this site. Older elements have been reused in buildings surrounding the church and there is an Arabic inscription on one of the gravestones in the vicinity.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Arabic, Arabic Inscription, Architecture, C6th, Church, Dmanisi, Georgia, Grave, Inscription, Kvemo Kartli, Middle Ages
Akvaneba
Akvaneba is a small C5th-C6th ruined chapel with an external apse to the south. It stands on a hill to the north of the Bolnisi-Dmanisi road.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Akvaneba, Architecture, C5th-C6th, Church, Georgia, Kvemo Kartli
Akaurta
The Mother of God church in Akaurta is dated C5th-C6th and is a single-naved, apsed building. It has been recently and unsympathetically renovated by the National Agency for the Cultural Preservation of Georgia.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Akaurta, Architecture, C5th-C6th, Church, Georgia, Kvemo Kartli, Mother of God
Bolnisi
Bolnisi Sioni church has the oldest dated inscription in the Georgian language on Georgian soil that states that the church was completed in 493 (the earliest securely dated Georgian inscriptions have been discovered in the Holy Land). The original inscription is now in the National Art Museum in Tbilisi, but a replica has been placed on the church wall. This tells that the building was completed by the end of the C5th and this is particularly notable given the exceptional size of the building. It is referred to as a five-aisled basilica. The central nave is flanked by aisles to the north and south, that end in presbyteries, but in addition doors lead on both the north and south sides to the same kind of semi-open arcades found at Nekresi. The northern aisle terminates in an apse, creating an al fresco chapel and is walled in to the south, east and west, but open to the elements on the north side. To the south, the central element of this arcade is open to the south, but the eastern and western extremities have been closed in to create two chambers at either end of the arcade. In addition there is a C17th belltower in the courtyard of the church. The church has received a new roof and parts of the architecture, particularly on the northern side, have recently been renovated.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Bell Tower, Bolnisi, C5th, Cathedral, Church, Georgia, Georgian, Georgian Inscription, Inscription, Kvemo Kartli, Three Church Basilica
Kvemo Bolnisi
The C5th-C6th church at Kvemo Bolnisi has been recently, and sympathetically, restored. The extant building is the central nave of a building that originally had aisles to the north and south. However, these aisles were only accessible through one door to the north and two doors to the south - they were not open to the central nave with a columned arcade or piers. The apse of the south aisle is still extant and to the north, most of the northern aisle stands to shoulder height and above, but lacks a roof.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, Ascension, C5th-C6th, Church, Cross, Georgia, Kvemo Bolnisi, Kvemo Kartli, Three Church Basilica, Triple Basilica