Iqalto ( ka, იყალთო) is a village about 10 km west of the town

Telavi Telavi ( ka, თელავი ) is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 19,629 inhabitants (as of the year 2014). The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gomb ...

in the

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 e ...

region of Eastern

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 ...

. It is mostly known for its

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 whic ...

complex and the Ikalto Academy. The Ikalto monastery was founded by Saint Zenon, one of the 13 Assyrian Fathers, in the late 6th century. It was known as one of the most significant cultural-scholastic centres of Georgia. An academy was founded at the monastery during king

David the Builder David IV, also known as David the Builder ( ka, დავით აღმაშენებელი, ') (1073–1125), of the Bagrationi dynasty, was the 5th king of United Georgia from 1089 until his death in 1125. Popularly considered to be ...

Arsen Ikaltoeli Arsen Iqaltoeli or Arsen of Iqalto ( ka, არსენ იყალთოელი) (died c. 1127) was a Georgian churchman, theologian, calligrapher and religious author with noticeable role in the ecclesiastic life of Georgia in the reign of ...

(''Ikaltoeli'' meaning ''from Ikalto''), and advisor to David IV, in 1106.Edge of Empires: A History of Georgia by Donald Rayfield The

Academy of Ikalto An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

trained its students in theology, rhetoric, astronomy, philosophy, geography, geometry, arithmetic, music, grammar, chanting but also more practical skills such as pottery making, metal work, viticulture and wine making and pharmacology. According to a legend the famous 12th century Georgian poet

Shota Rustaveli Shota Rustaveli ( ka, შოთა რუსთაველი, c. 1160 – after c. 1220), Mononymous person, mononymously known simply as Rustaveli, was a medieval Georgia (country), Georgian poet. He is considered to be the pre-eminent poet of ...

studied there. There are three churches on the monastery grounds – Khvtaeba, Kvelatsminda and Sameba. The main church, Khvtaeba (''Holy Spirit''), was built in the 8th–9th century on the site of an older church (in which Saint Zenon had been buried). In 1616 the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

invaders led by Shah Abbas I set the Ikalto Academy on fire and it ceased to exist. Image:Ikalto-2008-00.jpg, The entrance to Ikalto monastery. Image:Ikalto-2008-02.jpg, Khvtaeba church at Ikalto monastery. Image:Ikalto-2008-03.jpg, Khvtaeba church at Ikalto monastery. Image:Ikalto-2008-04.jpg, Ikalto monastery. Image:Ikalto-2008-05.jpg, Ikalto monastery. Image:Ikalto-2008-06.jpg, Ruins of the Ikalto Academy. Image:Ikalto-2008-07.jpg, Ruins of the Ikalto Academy. Image:Ikalto-2008-08.jpg, The main road through the Ikalto village.

References

Ikalto monastery at Kakheti.netIkalto monastery description
{{Georgian Churches Georgian Orthodox monasteries Christian monasteries established in the 6th century Populated places in Telavi Municipality

See also

References