The church of Saint George at Ikvi stands on the right bank of the Shabtsala river, in the wooded mountains of Kaspi Municipality, and is listed in the national category. Sources date the church to the first half of the 11th century, and that date is no guess: it comes from palaeographic and stylistic analysis of the building itself.
To the left of the niche, under the arch, a relief of a flowering cross is carved on a slab together with an Asomtavruli inscription naming the donor, the patriarch Arsen. It was this inscription that gave the dating its footing.
It is a cross domed building of about nine metres by seven, laid of rubble, with hewn stone taken for the facing of the facades, the arches, the columns and the other structural parts. There are two entrances, west and south, the southern one wider. Four arms of the cross form the central space. In the late nineteen thirties the church was restored: the facades and the drum of the dome were rebuilt, a buttressing structure was set on the south, and the mountain slope on the north was secured with a wall.
๐ก Tip
- A relief flowering cross and an Asomtavruli inscription naming the donor
- The dating comes from analysis of the building itself
- The restoration secured the dome drum and the mountain slope
๐ Getting there
- Ikvi locality near Chachubeti village, Kaspi Municipality, Shida Kartli
- The Build Route button will take you to the spot
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