Samshvilde Sioni church

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Samshvilde Sioni church
სამშვილდის სიონი
Ruins of the Samshvilde Sioni church
Map
41°30′25″N 44°30′13″E / 41.506966°N 44.503482°E / 41.506966; 44.503482 (Samshvilde)
LocationSamshvilde, Tetritsqaro Municipality,
Kvemo Kartli, Georgia
TypeRuined church

Samshvilde Sioni church (

pastophoria, the church was built between 759 and 777. It is now in ruins and only fragments of the eastern wall remain standing. The church is inscribed on the list of the Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia.[1]

History

Samshvilde Sioni church. A Georgian inscription of the 8th century.

The Sioni church is part of the Samshvilde historic site, which is centered in a naturally fortified location, a rocky terrain at the confluence of the

Iberia of the Classical sources—with founding the church of Sioni at Samshvilde; archaeologists have not been able to locate the remains of this church.[2]

The extant fragments of the Sioni church date to the period of 759–777 as suggested by a

asomtavruli script, from the better-preserved eastern façade, containing references to the contemporary Byzantine emperors Constantine V and Leo IV the Khazar.[3]

Layout

The Sioni church is built of neatly hewn yellow sandstone blocks and externally measures 24 × 24 metres. It is a three-nave building with a centrally located dome, with an oblong rectangular ground plan. The Samshvilde church bears marked similarities to the

church of Tsromi in Shida Kartli in its plan and conception, but here, unlike Tsromi, two long ambulatory galleries ran on the south and north, ending in separate chapels (eukterion) on the east.[3]

The dome rested on the crossing of longitudinal and transverse axes and was supported by four free-standing pillars. The transition from the square bay to the circle of the dome was effected through squinches. The side apses communicated openly with the sanctuary and the central bay rather than forming individual chambers. Apart from the 8th-century Georgian foundation inscription, there is another, heavily damaged, almost illegible Georgian inscription in the southern façade and, next to it, a fragment in Armenian identifying the Armenian catholicos Gevorg III Loretsi (r. 1069–1072).[3]

References

  1. ^ "List of Immovable Cultural Monuments" (PDF) (in Georgian). National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
  2. ISBN 978-3-7001-8204-7
    .
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-9941-15-896-4
    .
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