In the village of Ateni, 10 km from Gori, there is the Ateni Monastery, one of the sights of Georgia and an exact copy of the Jvari monastery.

The sights of Georgia can be safely called a wonder of the world, and this article is devoted to one of such wonders.

Athenian Zion, The Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Georgia is an amazing twin temple, one of the masterpieces of Georgian architecture. Location: Ateni village, a little south of Gori, Shida Kartli region

The temple was erected immediately after the famous Jvari, in the early years of the 7th century, around 630, even before the invasion of the Arabs. Both of these temples are exactly the same as doubles. Inside the temple, visitors can see frescoes from the Golden Age, approximately 1080, which, fortunately, have been well preserved to this day. In addition to the frescoes, a lot of inscriptions have been preserved both inside and outside the building. The Athenian Zion is the undisputed leader in the number of such inscriptions among other numerous temples in Georgia.

From the point of view of historical importance, this temple has no equal. It is one of three temples of this type that have managed to survive to our times. The temple is a must-visit for those who cannot decide what to see in Georgia.

Both externally and internally, the Athenian Zion is an exact copy of Jvari, the only differences between these two temples are exclusively in frescoes. Like its counterpart, Jvari, the Athenian Zion has not been affected by time. As a twin temple, there are trompas in Zion – these are arches that help the octagonal dome of the temple to stay on a tetrahedral base.

In Zion you can see a lot of frescoes, most of which date back to the 11th century, which is very rare for Georgia. Unfortunately, in some places the frescoes were badly damaged, especially by the fire of the Persian Shah Abbas (Abbas I the Great), and now only fragments of them can be seen. Also, to date, the church has preserved murals and reliefs on the facades, including images of prominent personalities, the Nativity of the Virgin and scenes from the lives of holy people. There is very little light in the temple, so it is not easy to feel the riot of colors in full. However, it is worth noting that such rare and therefore valuable temples are the most beautiful places in Georgia.

The Athenian Zion is of great interest from the point of view of Georgian writing. It turned out that the earliest inscriptions in the font of ancient Georgian church letters were found in it. Unfortunately, these priceless inscriptions are very pale, and it is extremely problematic to see and read them.

Thanks to the persistent requests of the local population to take urgent measures to save and restore the temple, relatively recently, from 2011 to 2018, another restoration of the temple and frescoes was carried out.