The church of Saint George stands in Khospio village in Akhalkalaki Municipality, on the right bank of the river, and is listed in the national category. Sources date the church to the 10th century. The hall building is laid of grey and pale yellow ashlars, the entrances are on the south and west, the doors carry architraves outside and are arched within.
Arched windows are cut in the east, west and south walls, and a plain gable finishes the walls under a roof of stone slabs. A semicircular apse closes the east end, its conch resting on an arch above the capitals of profiled shoulders, and a cross and a six pointed star are carved on the keystones of the conch. The solea is raised by a step, the apse is closed by a wooden screen, and the long walls are divided by two pairs of pilasters.
The carving here is rich: the capitals of the south and west walls, a scene of Daniel in the lions den above the east window, and a relief of the meeting of Elizabeth and Mary set into the south wall. The church has had a hard history: in the 18th and 19th centuries it was rebuilt into a tower and housed a Turkish official. Tradition holds that when cholera broke out in the village in 1892, a local woman dreamt it was a punishment for leaving the church unattended. In the nineteen seventies the church was restored and returned to its former purpose.
💡 Tip
- Daniel in the lions den carved above the east window
- A cross and a six pointed star on the keystones of the conch
- The church was rebuilt into a tower and later returned to the church
🚗 Getting there
- Khospio village, Akhalkalaki Municipality, Samtskhe Javakheti
- The Build Route button will take you to the spot
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