The Achi Monastery of St. George ( ka, აჭის წმ. გიორგის სახელობის მონასტერი) is a medieval

Georgian Orthodox The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

church near the village of Achi in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

's southwestern region of

Guria Guria ( ka, გურია) is a region ('' mkhare'') in Georgia, in the western part of the country, bordered by the eastern end of the Black Sea. The region has a population of 113,000 (2016), with Ozurgeti as the regional capital. Geograph ...

, 9 km south of the town of

Ozurgeti Ozurgeti ( ka, ოზურგეთი ) is the capital of the western Georgian province of Guria. It was formerly known as Macharadze or Makharadze (named in honor of Filipp Makharadze). It is a regional center of tea and hazelnut processing. ...

Architecture

The Achi monastery is a single-nave

hall church A hall church is a church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height, often united under a single immense roof. The term was invented in the mid-19th century by Wilhelm Lübke, a pioneering German art historian. In contrast to an arc ...

, built of hewn stone. Constructed at the end of the 13th century or in the early 14th, it was later reroofed, renovated and surrounded by a defensive wall. The whole interior is frescoed. Some murals, stylistically dated to the late 13th century and betraying affinities with the Palaeologan art, are iconographic rarities, such as those depicting the life of

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

. One of the accompanying inscriptions, in Greek, mentions Onesimos, a Trapezuntine, probably a painter. A Georgian inscription in the ''

asomtavruli The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order and are written hor ...

'' script, mounted on the eastern façade, reads: "Saint George, intercede for the lords Saghir, Rati, and Ushanian, and intercede for Nikoloz of Achi and the stonemasons Mikel and Mkhetsidze."

History

The Achi monastery was favored by the

Princes of Guria A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

, especially

Simon I Gurieli Simon I Gurieli (also Svimon; ka, სიმონ ��ვიმონI გურიელი, 1606 – ), of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1625 to 1626. He acceded to power in Guria, a small principality in southwest Georgia, after ...

and

Kaikhosro I Gurieli Kaikhosro I Gurieli ( ka, ქაიხოსრო I გურიელი; died 1660), of the House of Gurieli, was Prince of Guria from 1626 to 1658. He was installed by Levan II Dadiani, Prince of Mingrelia, in place of his deposed predecessor ...

in the 17th century. Both made significant donations to the church and Kaikhosro made it a

metochion A ''metochion'' or ''metochi'' ( gr, μετόχιον, metóchion or gr, μετόχι, metóchi; russian: подворье, podvorie) is an ecclesiastical embassy church within Eastern Orthodox tradition. It is usually from one autocephalous or ...

of the bishopric see of

Shemokmedi Shemokmedi ( ka, შემოქმედი) is a village in the Ozurgeti Municipality, Guria, Georgia. It is located in western Georgia, on the Bzhuzhi river, at elevation of 190 m above sea level, 7 km east of the city of Ozurgeti. The vill ...

. The abbotship of Achi was then hereditary in the Salukvadze-Taqaishvili family. The church housed a gilded silver cross with a Georgian inscription mentioning the queen Tamar, which was discovered by

Ekvtime Taqaishvili Ekvtime Takaishvili (also spelled Taqaishvili) () (January 5, 1862 – February 21, 1953) was a Georgian historian, archaeologist and public benefactor. Born in the village of Likhauri in the western Georgian province of Guria to a local noblema ...

. The item was preserved in the Salukvadze family during the Soviet period and returned to the Achi church in 2015. The Achi church was restored to Christian use in 1991. It is inscribed on the registry of the Monuments of National Significance of Georgia.

References

{{Georgian Churches Eastern Orthodox church buildings in Georgia (country) Georgian Orthodox monasteries Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia Buildings and structures in Guria 13th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings