The name of the church is of interest in itself: its second element, qilisa, goes back to a Turkic word meaning church. Such bilingual names are usual for this part of Kvemo Kartli and show how languages have sat side by side here for centuries. What the first part, Bualo, means local tradition does not explain.
A qualifier is added to the name in brackets: the large church. It stands in Darbazi, a village north of Dmanisi, in the hilly part of the region. This neighbourhood is multilingual: villages with Georgian, Turkic and Armenian names stand nearby, and the toponymy here reads like a layer cake.
There is no fixed schedule of services and the site can be approached at any time. The rules are those of any working church: covered shoulders and knees, quiet. The roads in the Dmanisi part wind and are unpaved in places, so allow more time than the distance suggests.
📜 Of interest
- The second element of the name, qilisa, goes back to a Turkic word meaning church
- Darbazi north of Dmanisi, the hilly part of Kvemo Kartli
- A qualifier is added to the name in brackets: the large church
🚗 Getting there
- Landmark: Darbazi village, Dmanisi municipality; about twelve kilometres to Dmanisi
- For navigation tap Build Route
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