Natlismtsemeli Monastery
The Natlismtsemeli monastery () also known as Saint John monastery is a historical and architectural monument within the David Gareja monastery complex, located in the Kakheti region, east of Georgia. The monastery consists of numerous cave temples and a central church. There is also a smaller church south of the main one. The interiors of the church date from the 12th century. History The foundations of the Natlismtsemeli monastery, located 12 km west of the David Gareja plateau, were laid by Luciane, a student of David Gareja at the end of the 7th century, according to the church's tradition.Чубинашвили Г. Н., Пещерные монастыри Давид-Гареджи, Тб., 1948. ст. 31-32 Architectural features The complex consists of numerous cave temples and a central church. The central church stands out for its extraordinary height. The iconography Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretat ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ozurgeti Municipality
Ozurgeti ( ka, ოზურგეთის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Ozurgetis munitsipalit'et'i'') is a municipality of Georgia, in the region of Guria. Its main town is Ozurgeti. Ozurgeti municipality is located on the territory of western Georgia. Its area is . Ozurgeti municipality is bordered on the west by the Black Sea, on the south by the Adjara-Guria ridge, the Choloki River and the Autonomous Republic of Adjara; Chokhatauri municipalities in the east and Lanchkhuti municipalities in the north. Black earth-alluvial and earthen soils are spread in the territory of the municipality. Red earth soils are spread in the hilly strip of the municipality. Red alloys of alluvial secondary origin are developed on the terraces of rivers, sediments, and swamps, and swampy soils are developed in the coastal zone. History Until 1917, the territory of the municipality was included in Ozurgeti Mazra of Kutaisi Province, in 1930 it was formed as a separate territorial u ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Georgia (country)
Georgia (, ; ) is a transcontinental country at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is part of the Caucasus region, bounded by the Black Sea to the west, by Russia to the north and northeast, by Turkey to the southwest, by Armenia to the south, and by Azerbaijan to the southeast. The country covers an area of , and has a population of 3.7 million people. Tbilisi is its capital as well as its largest city, home to roughly a third of the Georgian population. During the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia, such as Colchis and Iberia. In the early 4th century, ethnic Georgians officially adopted Christianity, which contributed to the spiritual and political unification of the early Georgian states. In the Middle Ages, the unified Kingdom of Georgia emerged and reached its Golden Age during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Thereafter, the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Georgian Orthodox Church
The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly known as the Georgian Orthodox Church or the Orthodox Church of Georgia, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with the other churches of Eastern Orthodoxy. It is Georgia's dominant religious institution, and a majority of Georgian people are members. The Orthodox Church of Georgia is one of the oldest churches in the world. It asserts apostolic foundation, and that its historical roots can be traced to the early and late Christianization of Iberia and Colchis by Andrew the Apostle in the 1st century AD and by Saint Nino in the 4th century AD, respectively. As in similar autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, the church's highest governing body is the holy synod of bishops. The church is headed by ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may be a chapel, church, or temple, and may also serve as an oratory, or in the case of communities anything from a single building housing only one senior and two or three junior monks or nuns, to vast complexes and estates housing tens or hundreds. A monastery complex typically comprises a number of buildings which include a church, dormitory, cloister, refectory, library, balneary and infirmary, and outlying granges. Depending on the location, the monastic order and the occupation of its inhabitants, the complex may also include a wide range of buildings that facilitate self-sufficiency and service to the community. These may include a hospice, a school, and a range of agricultural and manufacturing buildings such as a barn, a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Church (building)
A church, church building or church house is a building used for Christian worship services and other Christian religious activities. The earliest identified Christian church is a house church founded between 233 and 256. From the 11th through the 14th centuries, there was a wave of church construction in Western Europe. Sometimes, the word ''church'' is used by analogy for the buildings of other religions. ''Church'' is also used to describe the Christian religious community as a whole, or a body or an assembly of Christian believers around the world. In traditional Christian architecture, the plan view of a church often forms a Christian cross; the center aisle and seating representing the vertical beam with the bema and altar forming the horizontal. Towers or domes may inspire contemplation of the heavens. Modern churches have a variety of architectural styles and layouts. Some buildings designed for other purposes have been converted to churches, while many ori ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble. This is distinct from a palace, which is not fortified; from a fortress, which was not always a residence for royalty or nobility; from a ''pleasance'' which was a walled-in residence for nobility, but not adequately fortified; and from a fortified settlement, which was a public defence – though there are many similarities among these types of construction. Use of the term has varied over time and has also been applied to structures such as hill forts and 19th-20th century homes built to resemble castles. Over the approximately 900 years when genuine castles were built, they took on a great many forms with many different features, although some, such as curtain walls, arrowslits, and portcullises, wer ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Architecture Of Georgia (country)
''For the unrelated style that emerged in the English-speaking world during the reigns of successive kings George, see Georgian architecture.'' The architecture of Georgia refers to the styles of architecture found in Georgia. The country is exceptionally rich in architectural monuments. Characteristic features of the Georgian architecture are monumentality, clear composition, strict proportions, moderate use of decorations, and above all these the harmonic interaction with nature. Georgian architecture is influenced by a number of architectural styles, including several each for castles, towers, fortifications, palaces and churches. The Upper Svaneti fortifications and the castle town of Shatili in Khevsureti are among the finest examples of medieval Georgian castles. Georgian medieval churches have a distinct character, though related to Armenian and Byzantine architecture, typically combining a conical dome raised high on a drum over a rectangular or cross-shaped lower stru ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Gareja Monastery Complex
David Gareja ( ka, დავითგარეჯის სამონასტრო კომპლექსი) is a rock-hewn Georgian Orthodox monastery complex located in the Kakheti region of Eastern Georgia, on the half-desert slopes of Mount Gareja on the edge of Iori Plateau, some 60–70 km southeast of Georgia's capital Tbilisi. The complex includes hundreds of cells, churches, chapels, refectories and living quarters hollowed out of the rock face. Part of the complex of David Gareja ( Bertubani Monastery) is located on the Azerbaijan–Georgia border and has become subject to a border dispute between the two countries. The area is also home to protected animal species and evidence of some of the oldest human habitations in the region. History The complex was founded in the 6th century by David (St. David Garejeli), one of the thirteen Assyrian monks who arrived in the country at the same time. His disciples Dodo and Luciane expanded the original lavra and f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kakheti
Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region ( mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakheti is bordered by the Russian Federation with the adjacent subdivisions ( Chechnya to the north, and Dagestan to the northeast), the country of Azerbaijan to the southeast, and with the regions of Mtskheta-Mtianeti and Kvemo Kartli to the west. Kakheti has a strong linguistic and cultural identity, since its ethnographic subgroup of Kakhetians speak the Kakhetian dialect of Georgian. The Georgian David Gareja monastery complex is partially located in this province and is subject to a border dispute between Georgian and Azerbaijani authorities. Popular tourist attractions in Kakheti include Tusheti, Gremi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mkhare
A ''mkhare'' ( ka, მხარე, ''mxare'') is a type of administrative division in the country of Georgia. It is usually translated as "region". According to presidential decrees in 1994 and 1996, Georgia's division into regions is on a provisional basis until the secessionist conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia are resolved. The regional administration is headed by a State Commissioner (სახელმწიფო რწმუნებული, ''Saxelmćipo Rćmunebuli'', usually translated as "Governor"), an official appointed by the President. The regions are further subdivided into ''raionis'' (district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...s). There are 9 regions in Georgia (see also map opposite): See also * Administrative divisions of Georgi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Iconography
Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct from artistic style. The word ''iconography'' comes from the Greek ("image") and ("to write" or ''to draw''). A secondary meaning (based on a non-standard translation of the Greek and Russian equivalent terms) is the production or study of the religious images, called "icons", in the Byzantine and Orthodox Christian tradition (see Icon). This usage is mostly found in works translated from languages such as Greek or Russian, with the correct term being "icon painting". In art history, "an iconography" may also mean a particular depiction of a subject in terms of the content of the image, such as the number of figures used, their placing and gestures. The term is also used in many academic fields other than art history, for example semioti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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David Gareja Lavra
The Lavra of David () or David Gareja Lavra is a historical and architectural monument within the monastic complex of David Gareja. It was built during the first half of the 6th century under the guidance of San David Gareja. Architecture The monastery includes several buildings dating from the VI-XVIII centuries, intended for the use of churches, monks and visitors. It is surrounded by defensive walls with rounded towers. In the center, there is an old church with a bell tower over the entrance. It is located in a mountainous area rich in caves. In the monastery, a system has been created to collect, filter and use rainwater from the mountain. Water drips and accumulates continuously in one of the caves that enter the complex. According to legend, this cave is called "The Tear of David." The largest and most important building in the complex is the Church of the Apostle John. Located in the heart of the complex, this church was built in the 12th century with red tiles. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |