Naeklesiari is the Georgian word for a place where a church once stood. Nothing is left of the walls of the church of the vanished village of Erani, but the site itself survives, and locals still call it by the name of the village.
The spot lies near Santa, north-west of Tsalka. Santa is still alive: two kilometres away stand its chapels of St George, of the apostles Peter and Paul and of St Charalampos. Greek and Armenian communities lived on the Tsalka plateau for centuries, and the names of local shrines still recall it.
People come here not to a church but to the trace of a settlement. Nothing should be dug up or moved: the scattered stones are the little that is left of Erani.
📍 In brief
- A naeklesiari, the site of a vanished church
- Erani, an abandoned village near living Santa
- Three Santa chapels two kilometres away
🚗 Getting there
- Landmark - Santa village, Tsalka Municipality; about ten kilometres to Tsalka
- The Build Route button will show the exact way
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