Kaloubani St. George Church

St. George's Church in Kaloubani is located 5 km north of Mtskheta, on the left bank of the Mtkvari River, on a high mountain ridge, near the Mtskheta-Shiomghvime highway. The church was built and painted in the 12th century. In 1975, restoration works were carried out. It is possible to get to the church by car. The last section of the road is dirt.

If you visit Kaloubani Church, in addition to the small, lovely church and its simple and interesting nature, you will enjoy wonderful views. The church is on a fairly high mountain and there are large spaces around it. The Jvari Monastery can be seen in the distance, directly in front of the church, on the other side of the Mtkvari you will see the Armazi Fortress and the Monastery of the Mother of God of Armazi. Next to the church is a tall, split tree in the middle, almost without a base, which still retains its greenery. This tree looks as if it is part of the whole architecture and adds more coziness and liveliness to the spicy church perched on the top of the mountain.

Architecture

The church has a hall (4.51 X 2.72 m), built of crushed stone. To the west of it, is a tower-like two-story building, the first floor of which is covered by a cylindrical arch and acts as a gate for the church. It has an entrance from the south. In the northern part of the first floor there is a rectangular hole to the second floor (bell tower).

The entrance to the church is from the west, there is one window in the semicircular apse, with an arched niche on each side. The altar is separated by a brick iconostasis. A stone fragment (earlier) is embedded in the stone structure of the refectory. Here is a stone embassy. There is one window in the south wall.

Painting

The church was completely painted in the 12th century. The frescoes depict a cross embedded in a medallion, five scenes of the celebratory cycle (Annunciation, Christmas, Presentation of the Lord, Epiphany and Transfiguration), glorious compositions of saints, triumphant figure of St. George on a white horse, half-figures of holy mothers, half-figures, chestnuts on a horse In the form of George Patricia, St. Demetrius and half-figure of holly mother.

The painting is monumental and calm, but there is a deviation towards the decorative-dynamic style (disagreement between registrars, different scale of images, different arrangement of figures with space, filling of vacancies with semi-figures). The line is moving and flowing. The color is distinguished by a subtle color gamut - pink, blue, white, pale green colors are combined with reddish brown.