Shemokmedi Monastery
Shemokmedi Monastery | |
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Georgian | |
The Shemokmedi monastery (
Architecture
The Shemokmedi monastery consists of two architecturally simple churches—those of the Redeemer and the Transfiguration otherwise known as Zarzma. The third structure, a bell tower, is built upon the fence of the monastery. This complex is located on a small hill on the left bank of the Bzhuzhi river, overlooking the village of Shemokmedi.[1]
The church of the Redeemer is a three-nave basilica with the dimensions of 10 × 13 m. It is an ashlar structure, lined with bluestone, and with a white marble floor. An ornate curving follows the contour of a window on the western façade. The interior was once entirely frescoed. The surviving fragments depict Mamia II Gurieli (died 1627), Prince of Guria, and his wife Tinatin, with respective identifying inscriptions in Georgian.[1]
The church of the Transfiguration was constructed at the behest of Prince
Northeast of the Shemokmedi monastery, at a distance of some 1.5 km, on the right bank of the Bzhuzhi, is the recently restored Gorisperdi church. Ornate fragments from the earlier, ruined medieval structure are found in the churchyard.[1]
History
The Shemokmedi Monastery was founded in the 15th century as a seat of one of the three bishoprics of the
After the death of Metropolitan Bishop Ioseb Takaishvili in 1794, the Shemokmedi sea became dormant; the bishop of Jumati became a titular Shemokmedeli, while the monastery and its possessions passed to Kaikhosro Gurieli, an influential member of the ruling dynasty of Guria, who eventually lost his estates for leading an insurrection against the Russian Empire in 1820. During the conflict, Shemokmedi was stormed by the Russian troops, its fortifications were demolished and environs devastated.[2][3]
The Shemokmedi monastery was reinstated as a bishopric see, uniting the parishes of
Collections
Over centuries, the Shemokmedi cathedral became a safe-house of ecclesiastic treasures and accumulated a large collection of various religious objects and manuscripts from other churches and monasteries of Georgia.[5][1] In 1873, the church was visited and the first scholarly description of its collection was compiled by Dimitri Bakradze. Subsequently, the monastery was subjected to a series of robberies. The surviving treasures were catalogued by Nikodim Kondakov on his visit to the monastery in 1889.[6] Since 1924, most of the extant items have been in the collections of the Georgian National Museum.
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f Gamkrelidze et al. 2013, pp. 566–567.
- ^ Belyavsky & Potto 1904, pp. 530–531.
- ^ Rayfield 2012, pp. 276–277.
- ^ "შემოქმედის ეპარქია [Shemokmedi Eparchy]" (in Georgian). Patriarchate of Georgian Orthodox Church. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
- ^ Eastmond 2011, pp. 59, 81.
- ^ Kondakov 1890, pp. 111–133.
References
- Belyavsky, N.N.; Potto, V.A., eds. (1904). Утверждение русского владычества на Кавказе [The Consolidation of Russian Dominion over the Caucasus] (PDF) (in Russian). Vol. 3, Part 2. Tiflis: Caucasus Military District Staff Typography.
- Eastmond, Antony (2011). "Messages, Meanings and Metamorphoses: the Icon of the Transfiguration of Zarzma". In Lymberopoulou, Angeliki (ed.). Images of the Byzantine World — Visions, Messages and Meanings. Studies presented to Leslie Brubaker. Farnham: Ashgate. pp. 57–82. ISBN 978-1409407768.
- Gamkrelidze, Gela; Mindorashvili, Davit; Bragvadze, Zurab; Kvatsadze, Marine, eds. (2013). "ციხისძირი [Tsikhisdziri]". ქართლის ცხოვრების ტოპოარქეოლოგიური ლექსიკონი [Topoarchaeological dictionary of Kartlis tskhovreba: The history of Georgia] (PDF) (in Georgian) (1st ed.). Tbilisi: Georgian National Museum. pp. 588–592. ISBN 978-9941-15-896-4.
- Kondakov, Nikodim (1890). Опись памятников древности в некоторых храмах и монастырях Грузии [Description of the monuments of old in some churches and monasteries of Georgia] (PDF). St. Petersburg: Ministry of the Means of Communication Tiypography.
- ISBN 978-1780230306.