Vardzia

Five monks still live in this mountain. Every morning at seven they ring the bell in the high arch.
Rat'i Surameli, Duke of Javakheti and Kartli, wearing a sharbush and a front-opening qaba with tiraz, slightly before 1186, Vardzia, southern Georgia, Inv. No. 5246-262.[1]

Vardzia (Georgian: ვარძია [vaɾdzia]) is a cave monastery site in southern Georgia, excavated from the slopes of the Erusheti Mountain on the left bank of the Kura River, thirty kilometres from Aspindza. The main period of construction was the second half of the twelfth century. The caves stretch along the cliff for some five hundred meters and in up to nineteen tiers. The monastery was an important cultural center, a place of significant literary and artistic work.

The Church of the Dormition, dating to the 1180s during the golden age of Tamar and Rustaveli, has an important series of wall paintings. The site was largely abandoned after the Ottoman takeover in the sixteenth century. Now part of a state heritage reserve, the extended area of Vardzia-Khertvisi has been submitted for future inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List.[2][3][4][5]

  1. ^ Flood, Finbarr Barry (2017). A Turk in the Dukhang? Comparative Perspectives on Elite Dress in Medieval Ladakh and the Caucasus. Austrian Academy of Science. p. 252, Fig. 19.
  2. ^ "About Meskheti". Parliament of Georgia. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  3. ^ "Vardzia Historical-Architectural Museum-Reserve". National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  4. ^ "Vardzia-Khertvisi". UNESCO. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  5. ^ "Vardzia Monastery complex". National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia. Retrieved 4 May 2012.