Interesting monastery complexes in Georgia. Shemokmedi Monastery complex.
The Shemokmedi Monastery complex is quite an interesting place. Shemokmedi includes three monuments: a bell tower of the sixteenth century and two temples. In one of the temples, the oldest icon in all of Georgia has been preserved, it was created in 886. There are many carved ornaments and reliefs on the walls of monasteries.
Monastery complex Shemokmedi it is located in Guria, on the left bank of the Bzhuzha River, 8 km away. to the south-east of the town of Ozurgeti, in the village of Shemokmedi.
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The complex consists of three monuments: the bell tower of the XVI century, restored in 1831, and two temples consisting next to each other - the Divine Basilica of the XII century and the domed church of Zarzma, which Vakhtang I of Guria specially built in 1572 to lay there the icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord brought from the Zarzma monastery in the XVI century for storage. Of the icons preserved in Georgia, this icon is the oldest and dates back to 886. According to legend, the icon taken from Zarzma was tied to a bull and had to leave it where the bull would stop. He's staying in Shemokmedi. So the icon turned out to be here.
The exterior and interior of the Church of the Saviour are made of painted stone, the floor is marble. The church is a three-nave domeless structure. Probably, at first it was a single-nave church, and the side aisles were added later, at the same time the walls were updated, having faced them in a checkerboard pattern with colored stones.
The Shemokmedi Monastery was considered a very rich monastery, there was a rich book depository. The Shemokmedi Monastery was the ancestral tomb of the Gurieli family and the local bishops.
Natural Monuments of Georgia
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