Picture of a plaque on the front entrance of the monastery

A map of Tsinarekhi and the Maghalashvili monastery

The Maghalashvili (Magalashvili; ka, მაღალაშვილი) or Maghaladze (Magaladze, მაღალაძე) is a Georgian noble family; according to

Cyril Toumanoff Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

, an offshoot of the medieval house of Mkhargrdzeli.

Toumanoff, Cyril Cyril Leo Toumanoff (russian: Кирилл Львович Туманов; 13 October 1913 – 4 February 1997) was a Russian-born Georgian historian and genealogist who mostly specialized in the history and genealogies of medieval Georgia, Armenia, ...

(1967). ''Studies in Christian Caucasian History'', p. 270.

Georgetown University Press Georgetown University Press is a university press affiliated with Georgetown University that publishes about forty new books a year. The press's major subject areas include bioethics, international affairs, languages and linguistics, political s ...

. The surname Maghalashvili is a combination of Maghala (which means tall or "Great" in

Greek language Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy (Calabria and Salento), southe ...

) and shvili (meaning son in

Georgian language Georgian (, , ) is the most widely-spoken Kartvelian language, and serves as the literary language or lingua franca for speakers of related languages. It is the official language of Georgia and the native or primary language of 87.6% of its p ...

Bibiluridze

According to Georgian genealogic tradition of Prince Ioann (1768–1830), the Maghalashvili came from

Imereti Imereti ( Georgian: იმერეთი) is a region of Georgia situated in the central-western part of the republic along the middle and upper reaches of the Rioni River. Imereti is the most populous region in Georgia. It consists of 11 mun ...

(western Georgia) to

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

(central Georgia) in 1415, in the reign of

Alexander I of Georgia Alexander I the Great (, ''Aleksandre I Didi'') (1386 – between August 26, 1445 and March 7, 1446), of the Bagrationi house, was king of Georgia from 1412 to 1442. Despite his efforts to restore the country from the ruins left by the Turco-Mong ...

, who granted them an estate at the village of Tsinarekhi in

Shida Kartli Shida Kartli ( ka, შიდა ქართლი, , ; "Inner Kartli") is a landlocked administrative region (''Mkhare'') in eastern Georgia. It comprises a central part of the historical-geographic province of Shida Kartli. With an area of , Sh ...

. An 18th century Georgian Orthodox Christian monastery, named the Maghalashvili or Maghalaanti Castle complex, was also built in their name, located on a hill outside of Tsinarekhi. By the end of the 17th century, the family had been bestowed with the hereditary office of Mayors of the Palace (Georgian: სახლთუხუცესი, ''saxlt'-uxuc'esi'') of the

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

. In 1701, the Georgian king Erekle I (Nazar Alī Khān) elevated the Maghalashvili to a

prince A prince is a Monarch, 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 title, hereditary, in s ...

ly rank or

tavadi ''Tavadi'' ( ka, თავადი, "prince", lit. "head/chief" an from ka, თავი ''tavi'', "head", with the prefix of agent ''-di'') was a feudal title in Georgia first applied in the Late Middle Ages usually translated in English as Pr ...

. After

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

annexation of Georgia, the family was incorporated among the princely nobility (

knyaz , or (Old Church Slavonic: Кнѧзь) is a historical Slavic title, used both as a royal and noble title in different times of history and different ancient Slavic lands. It is usually translated into English as prince or duke, dependi ...

Magalov; russian: Маѓаловы) of the empire in 1825.Магаловы (Magalov)
''Russian Biographic Lexicon''. Retrieved on February 7, 2008.

Tsinarekhi and the Maghalashvili monastery

in the reign of

the Maghalashvilis were granted an estate in the village of Tsinarekhi located in the

region of

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 so ...

, the family was given several pieces of farmland property in the village. in 1716 the construction of the Maghalshvili castle complex or Maghalashvili monastery began, the monastery was built as a

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

or monastery where monks and priests prayed. the monastery was built on a small hill beside a field and the kavtura river about 2 kilometres away from Tsinarekhi. a watchtower entrance with a large wooden door was built in the front with a wall going around the monastery, behind the entrance is another watchtower and a small basement entrance on the left side for the watchtower. the inside of the main building was painted depicting Georgian christian saints and a graveyard was built beside the building.

References

External links

* {{Commonscat-inline, Maghalashvili Georgian-language surnames Noble families of Georgia (country) Russian noble families

Bibiluridze

Tsinarekhi and the Maghalashvili monastery

See also

References

External links