The Old Shuamta () is a

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

monastery in the

Kakheti Kakheti (; ) is a region of Georgia. Telavi is its administrative center. The region comprises eight administrative districts: Telavi, Gurjaani, Qvareli, Sagarejo, Dedoplistsqaro, Signagi, Lagodekhi and Akhmeta. Kakhetians speak the ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

. It is located on a forested mountain about 1015 m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

, and five kilometers west of the town of

Telavi Telavi (; ) is the main city and administrative center of the eastern Georgian province of Kakheti. As of the 2017 Census, its population was 19,751. The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombori Range at above sea level. History Th ...

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 ...

History

Shuamta means "between the mountains", which clearly refers to the isolated and picturesque location amidst the

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and botany, the term deciduous () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed Leaf, leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forests of Gombori of the three buildings of the old Shuamta monastery. The monastic complex contains a basilica from the 5th century and two domed churches, both from the 7th century. The largest dome-shaped church is similar in type and architecture to the Jvari monastery. All the churches of the monastery are built in carved stone. It was abandoned in the 16th century. The wife of King Lewan II founded a new monastery with the name of New Shuamta. The main church of the new monastery was built of brick. The walls are decorated with frescoes. The monastery buildings were repaired by

Erekle II Heraclius II, also known as Erekle II ( ka, ერეკლე II) and The Little Kakhetian ( ka, პატარა კახი, link=no ; 7 November 1720 or 7 October 1721 Cyril_Toumanoff.html" ;"title="ccording to Cyril Toumanoff">C. Touman ...

. In 2008, the Old Shuamta monastery was restored.Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, Vol. 11, p. 50-51, Tb., 1987.

References

{{Authority control Kakheti Christian monasteries in Georgia (country)