The Chitakhevi church of Saint George ( ka, ჩითახევის წმინდა გიორგის ეკლესია, tr) is a medieval church in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, located in the country's south-central

Borjomi valley Borjomi Gorge ( ka, ბორჯომის ხეობა) is a picturesque canyon of the Kura River in central Georgia. The gorge was formed as a result of the Kura River cutting its path through the Lesser Caucasus Mountains where the Tria ...

in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region. It is popularly known as Mtsvane Monastery (მწვანე მონასტერი, ''mts'vane monast'eri''), that is, the Green Monastery. Abandoned for more than two hundred years, the monastery was restored to Christian use in 2003. It is a popular site of tourism and pilgrimage. The monastic church and bell-tower are inscribed on the list of the

Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance The Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance ( ka, ეროვნული მნიშვნელობის კატეგორიის კულტურის უძრავი ძეგლები) are buildings, structures ...

of Georgia.

History

The monastery is located at the village of Chitakhevi, some 12 km southwest of the town of

Borjomi Borjomi ( ka, ბორჯომი ) is a resort town in south-central Georgia with a population of 11,173 (as of 2024). Located 165 km from Tbilisi, it is one of the six municipalities of the Samtskhe–Javakheti region and is situated in the ...

, in the

Borjomi Municipality Borjomi ( ka, ბორჯომის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Borjomis munitsip'alit'et'i'') is a municipality in southern Georgia (country), Georgia, in the region of Samtskhe-Javakheti with a population of 24,998 (2021). It ...

, Samtskhe-Javakheti region. It is located in a narrow wooded gorge at the southwest section of the

Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park The Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (BKNP) ( ka, ბორჯომ-ხარაგაულის ეროვნული პარკი, ''borjom-kharagaulis erovnuli parki'') is a protected area in central Georgia, in Samtskhe-Javakheti, pa ...

. The monastery's history is unknown. Locally held belief of its dedication to

Saint George Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

found a likely epigraphic confirmation in an

antefix In architecture, an antefix () is a vertical block which terminates and conceals the covering tiles of a tiled roof (see imbrex and tegula, monk and nun). It also serves to protect the join from the elements. In grand buildings, the face of e ...

fragment with the name of

, unearthed in 2012. After the depopulation of the Borjomi valley as a result of incessant warfare and brigandage in the 18th century, the monastery was abandoned and left to decay. The monastery premises, overgrown by wild greenery, were partially reclaimed from nature in 1978, restored in 1988, and repopulated by Georgian monks in 2003. An upsurge in pilgrimage followed, driven by a belief that stones in the nearby stream acquired a reddish hue after a massacre of local monks by the soldiers of the Persian shah

Tahmasp I Tahmasp I ( or ; 22 February 1514 – 14 May 1576) was the second shah of Safavid Iran from 1524 until his death in 1576. He was the eldest son of Shah Ismail I and his principal consort, Tajlu Khanum. Tahmasp ascended the throne after the ...

in the 1550s.

Layout

The Chitakhevi Monastery consists of a three-nave basilica, stylistically dated to the late 9th or 10th century, and a two-storey bell-tower, likewise dated to the 15th or 16th century. There are remnants of old monastic cells and some accessory structures nearby. The church is built of coarsely hewn ashlar and rubble; principal constructional elements such as columns, pilasters, and arched are made in neatly hewn green-tinged ashlar. The building measures 14.5 x 19.2 metres. The central nave is flanked, on the south and west, by a two-sided aisle. It terminates in a semicircular

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

on the south and

pastophoria Pastophorion (; ) is one of two chambers within an early Christian and Eastern Christian church building used as sacristies—the diaconicon and the prothesis. Originally, in the Greek Old Testament the term "pastophorion" referred to the treasur ...

on the north. In the north corner of the apse there is a narrow door, internally arched and externally topped by an

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; , also called an epistyle; ) is the lintel or beam, typically made of wood or stone, that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can also apply to all sides, including the vertical members, ...

. The church is poorly lit, mainly through two windows cut in the apse. Both the internal and external walls are plain, devoid of any significant decoration; traces of frescoes, probably executed in the 12th or 13th century, survive in the apse and on the west wall. A bell-tower stands a few metres southeast of the church. It is a two-storey structure. The ground floor houses a small chapel; the upper floor is a belfry with arched, parallel-sided apertures supported on massive columns.

References

{{reflist Georgian Orthodox churches in Samtskhe–Javakheti Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia 9th-century churches in Georgia (country) 10th-century churches in Georgia (country)