Sights of Georgia: Rkoni Monastery. The history of the ancient temple, its architecture and location.

History

In 1400, a disaster happened to the temple and nearby settlements: during the hostilities they were destroyed.

Until the XVIII century, Rkoni was a well-fortified place, but after that everything was gradually ruined. Over the years, the Rkoni Monastery has been rebuilt many times.

There are three main periods of construction:

I period – VII century;

II period – from XIII to XIV centuries;

III period – from XVII to XVIII centuries.

The monastery was also used for the production of military equipment, in 1905 the complex was used as a workshop-laboratory, in connection with preparations for an armed uprising.

Architecture

The Rkoni complex includes several buildings: the Church of the Mother of God, the vestibule, the bell tower, the refectory, the tower, the prayer room, the Church of the Baptist, the Tamari Bridge and cells for monks.

The Church of Our Lady belongs to the VII century, it is a three-nave basilica. The boats are separated from each other by columns. The semicircular arches formed by those very columns have an almost semicircular shape. Vaulted ceiling. There are three entrances to the church.

The decoration has been preserved in parts: fragments of paintings, decorative arches. Each fragment of the painting belongs to different time intervals. Beautiful ornaments are spread on columns, bases, columns, capitals.

The prayer hall dates back to the XIII century. The facades of the prayer room are decorated with hewn stone, paintings and arches. The refectory of the complex is located in the north-west of the territory, it was built from pieces of stone and currently has enormous damage.

There is a tower not far from the refectory in the southwest direction. Unfortunately, only three floors have survived, on the second and first – one window each, the entrance is on the second floor.

The bell tower with a height of two floors is located to the northwest of the main temple. The painting has been preserved in fragments only on the ground floor. The second one is more like a gazebo in its structure, has 8 open arches, and there is also a hewn cornice.

To the south of the first church that was mentioned above, there is another one – the Church of the Baptist. This is a hall church built from processed pieces of stone. The vault is cylindrical in shape. The facades of the three cardinal directions, except the south, are decorated with arches. Later, a vestibule was added from the west.

The Tamara Bridge crosses the Tezami River, the length is about 12.5 meters, it is semicircular in shape. Despite all the hardships, the bridge is well preserved.