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Description

Location: Mtskheta, Georgia

Jvari Monastary

The name of this monastery translated as the "Monastery of the Cross". For the Georgian monastery in Jerusalem with the same name. it is a sixth-century Georgian Orthodox monastery near Mtskheta, eastern Georgia. Jvari Monastery stands on the rocky mountaintop at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, overlooking the town of Mtskheta, which was formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Iberia.

According to traditional accounts, on this location in the early 4th century Saint Nino, a female evangelist credited with converting King Mirian III of Iberia to Christianity, erected a large wooden cross on the site of a pagan temple. The cross was reportedly able to work miracles and therefore drew pilgrims from all over the Caucasus. A small church was erected over the remnants of the wooden cross in c.545 named the "Small Church of Jvari".

The present building, or "Great Church of Jvari", is generally held to have been built between 590 and 605 by Erismtavari Stepanoz I.

The importance of Jvari complex increased over time and attracted many pilgrims. In the late Middle Ages, the complex was fortified by a stone wall and gate, remnants of which still survive. During the Soviet period, the church was preserved as a national monument, but access was rendered difficult by tight security at a nearby military base. After the independence of Georgia, the building was restored to active religious use.

However, over the centuries the structures suffered damage from rain and wind erosion and inadequate maintenance.

Visible for miles around on its hilltop overlooking Mtskheta from the east, Jvari is, to many Georgians, the holiest of holies.

Jvari is a beautifully symmetrical little building and a classic of early Georgian tetraconch design. It has a cross-shaped plan with four equal arms, rounded on the inside (with the angles between them filled in by corner rooms), and a low dome sitting on a squat, octagonal drum. The interior is bare, ancient stone, except for a carved wooden cross on the central plinth.

Description

Location: Mtskheta, Georgia

Jvari Monastary

The name of this monastery translated as the "Monastery of the Cross". For the Georgian monastery in Jerusalem with the same name. it is a sixth-century Georgian Orthodox monastery near Mtskheta, eastern Georgia. Jvari Monastery stands on the rocky mountaintop at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, overlooking the town of Mtskheta, which was formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Iberia.

According to traditional accounts, on this location in the early 4th century Saint Nino, a female evangelist credited with converting King Mirian III of Iberia to Christianity, erected a large wooden cross on the site of a pagan temple. The cross was reportedly able to work miracles and therefore drew pilgrims from all over the Caucasus. A small church was erected over the remnants of the wooden cross in c.545 named the "Small Church of Jvari".

The present building, or "Great Church of Jvari", is generally held to have been built between 590 and 605 by Erismtavari Stepanoz I.

The importance of Jvari complex increased over time and attracted many pilgrims. In the late Middle Ages, the complex was fortified by a stone wall and gate, remnants of which still survive. During the Soviet period, the church was preserved as a national monument, but access was rendered difficult by tight security at a nearby military base. After the independence of Georgia, the building was restored to active religious use.

However, over the centuries the structures suffered damage from rain and wind erosion and inadequate maintenance.

Visible for miles around on its hilltop overlooking Mtskheta from the east, Jvari is, to many Georgians, the holiest of holies.

Jvari is a beautifully symmetrical little building and a classic of early Georgian tetraconch design. It has a cross-shaped plan with four equal arms, rounded on the inside (with the angles between them filled in by corner rooms), and a low dome sitting on a squat, octagonal drum. The interior is bare, ancient stone, except for a carved wooden cross on the central plinth.