754 Items
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
Manglisi Sioni
Manglisi Sioni church dates back to the C5th and was extended and altered up until the C11th. It was initially centrally planned, but has changed shape significantly over time including the addition of a porch at the west end and another narthex, with a small chapel/shrine open to the elements on one side to the south of the church.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Architecture, C11th, C5th, Church, Georgia, Kvemo Kartli, Manglisi, Manglisi Sioni, Sioni, Zion
Ikalto
Ikalto in Kakheti is nationally revered because of its medieval academy. This institution is linked to the national poet, Shota Rustaveli, the author of "The Man in the Panther's Skin" and the ruins of the academy are medieval. However, they are in a walled complex with three churches; the Sameba (Trinity) church dates from the C6th, the smaller single-naved Kvelatsminda church is C7th and the large, centrally planned Gvtaeba (Transfiguration) church that dominates the group is C8th-C9th. Gvtaeba has recently been the subject of a partial excavation and restoration funded by Geocell, a mobile phone network, but the work has been poorly executed and the church still suffers from major structural instability.
Type: Architecture
Tags: (As)Syrian Fathers, Academy, Architecture, C6th, C7th, C8th-C9th, Centrally-Planned, Church, Georgia, Gvtaeba, Holy Trinity, Ikalto, Kakheti, Kvelatsminda, Middle Ages, Rustaveli, Sameba, Thirteen (As)Syrian Fathers, Transfiguration
Dzveli Gavazi
Dzveli Gavazi is the name given to a church dated to the sixth century in the village of Alkhalsopeli at the foot of the Caucasus near Dagestan. The church has been changed since the sixth century, especially with the addition of an ambulatory that wraps around three-quarters of the building. The church was restored in 1852 and an inscription raised to commemorate this, and has also undergone restoration by the National Agency for the Cultural Preservation of Georgia. On the initial visit to the site in 2013 the church was locked and it was not possible to access the interior, however on a return in 2017 accompanied by Professor Nodar Bakhtadze, it was not only possible to locate the keyholder but also possible to take interior photographs of the building. This proved to be extremely interesting as each corner of the dome had a semi-circular rubble-built column at the junction between two lobes of the quatrefoil. The pendentives spring above these columns without an intervening capital making a clumsy transition that suggests a degree of experimentation. Interestingly the other quatrelobed monument in Kakheti, Ninotsminda in Sagarejo has its dome supported by the same arrangement of pendentives springing from columns without the intervening unifying element of a capital. Here we encounter the problem of the uncertain dates of both monuments. Dzveli Gavazi is attributed to the sixth century and the ambulatory which wraps around the exterior of much of the church is ascribed to the eighth century without any definitive reason for assuming these dates. Ninotsminda was believed to be an early monument, but recently there has been a move to suggest that it is not as ancient as previously assumed - although once again this discussion has been based on relatively nebulous typological grounds rather than being based on an archaeological or serious architectural resassessment. Given the ubiquity of the Kakhetian three church basilica in this region, Dzveli Gavazi represents a fascinating anomaly that requires further exploration.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Akhalsopeli, Architecture, C6th, C8th, Centrally-Planned, Church, Dzveli Gavazi, Georgia, Kakheti, Ninotsminda, Sagarejo
Akhalsopeli
The ruined church outside the village of Akhalsopeli is believed locally to be dedicated to Davit Gareja. It is a ruined single-naved church of uncertain date.
Type: Architecture
Tags: Akhalsopeli, Architecture, Church, Davit Gareja, Georgia, Kakheti