Christian churches in Abkhazia, monuments of Christian culture of Georgia

In one of the oldest provinces of Georgia — Abkhazia, many monuments of Christian culture have been preserved.

Lykhna Assumption cross-domed Cathedral of the X-XI centuries, which is located 4 km from Gudauta. The walls of this cathedral are painted with frescoes of the XIV century. There are Georgian inscriptions on asomtavruli (the ancient Georgian alphabet). One of these inscriptions in the southern part of the upper tier reports the approach of the shaggy star - comet Halley in 1066.

In 967-975, the Abkhazian king Leon III built the Mokvi Cathedral at the mouth of the Mokvistskali and Dvabi rivers. In the Middle Ages, handwritten books were produced and copied in the cathedral. It was here that a remarkable monument of Georgian culture was created, the Mokva Gospel, dated 1301, In our time the Gospel is in the repository of the National Center of Manuscripts of Georgia.

One of the significant monuments of Georgian architecture is the one-nave Ilora Church named after St. George (XI century, Ochamchira Municipality). Local authorities in 2010 carried out the restoration of the monument, as a result of which the Georgian character of the structure was lost — the facade and interior were covered with white paint, the stones on the eastern facade with Georgian inscriptions were plastered. The ceiling of the cathedral was also changed - a dome was installed, completely different from the previous one.

9 km from Gulripshi, on an elevated plateau near the Kodori River, there is another monument of Georgian architecture, the Dormition Cross-domed Cathedral (VI-VII centuries). It is known that at the end of the nineteenth century a monastery functioned here. The monks created a developed economy here: they opened a school, built a mill, a blacksmith shop, a carpenter's workshop, a printing house, and an infirmary. In 2006, by decree of the President of the country, the Dranda Cathedral was assigned the category of an immovable cultural monument of national significance.