Metekhi Virgin Mary’s Church

Metekhi Virgin Mary’s Church is located in the center of Shida Kartli, in the village of Metekhi, Kaspi Municipality. The ensemble includes: the Church of Virgin Mary, the wall, towers and the bell tower. The Church dates back to the XIII century, the wall and towers date back to the late Middle Ages, and the bell tower was built in the XIX century. The buildings have been repaired several times. In the late Middle Ages, the dome of the temple, the arches, the upper sections of the walls and the ornamental jewelry were restored.

Architecture

The XIII century church of Virgin Mary is a cross-domed building. It is built of basalt blocks. Green stone are used in the facades. The dome of the church based on the walls of the apse and the western imposts. The domed arches are semicircular and consist of two steps. The semicircular apse has three windows and it is raised two steps higher than the floor level.

The arms between the east side of the temple are divided into two floors. On the first floor there are Samkvetlo(place where everything is done for the liturgy)and Sadiakvne(room for storing things to the south side of a alter). There are hiding cells above them. All storerooms have a semicircular apse and a narrow window. The dome has twelve windows and it is very narrow at the top. The arms of the temple are covered with semicircular arches. There are two windows in the arches. The arches rest on one side of the domed piers and on the other side of the two-part pilasters. The decoration of the church is quite damaged, the ornamental inserts have been replaced and rearranged in many places. The same basic decorative motif is repeated on the facades: a large cross and window frames, as well as many medallions. The church has two entrances on the south and west. The entrances are arched from the inside and rectangular from the outside.

The late medieval fence, which surrounds the complex, is built of crushed stone. The bricks and cobblestones are also used. In the XIX century, a building with agricultural purpose was built to it with cobblestone from the west. The fence from the south had a gate where the iron door is currently hanging. Towers are built in the north-west and south-east of the fence. One tower was rectangular. The other was cylindrical and narrowed at the top. A brick ball tower was built on the cylindrical tower in the XIX century. It is a four-column Panchaturi( a shady sitting place for having rest) based on a square plan, cover with a pyramidal, stoned roof.

How to get there?

Metekhi village is located in the Shida Kartli region, on the right bank of the Mtkvari, 10 km from Kaspi. There is an asphalt road in the village.