Katskhi Church and Monastery

The church of Katskhi, with its architectural features, is a true masterpiece of late 10th and early 11th century architecture.

Not only the church itself, but the entire Katskhi Monastery, with its artistic activities and rich library, was a cultural centre for western Georgia.

The site

The monastery is located in western Georgia, in region of Imereti, not far from the town of Chiatura.

History of the Katskhi Monastery

The Katskhi Monastery has a very long history, which can be easily traced through written documents.

The construction of such an architecturally elaborate church and the foundation of a large and versatile monastery suggest that Katskhi was an important religious and military strategic site.

The peculiarity of the site lies in the fact that, from the 10th century onwards, Katskhi belonged to the Baghvashi family, one of the most influential princes in Georgia, almost as powerful as the Georgian kings themselves.

A brief overview of events in 10th century Georgia

In the 10th century, Georgia still consisted of several kingdoms and principalities. Supported by Byzantium, the Bagrationis princes from Tao-Klardschetien in southern Georgia (now Turkey) expanded their sphere of influence and attempted to take control of the entire country. They met with fierce resistance from regional princes who were reluctant to give up their sphere of influence. One of the most powerful princely families to resist were the Baghvashi princes, who came from western Georgia but had moved their headquarters to Kldekari (now the region of Lower Carthage) for strategic reasons.

King Bagrat, later known as Bagrat III, the first king of united Georgia, managed to take control of the entire territory of Georgia. At this time, the Baghvashis moved back to western Georgia and founded the monastery at Katskhi, which became their second residence and later the family burial site. Although the Baghvashis had moved to western Georgia, they did not completely abandon their seat in Kldekari and played an important role for Georgia in the centuries to come, but that is another story...

Back to Katskhi Monastery

Rati of the Baghvashi family began building the church around 990 and completed the project between 1010 and 1014, during the lifetime of King Bagrat III. The inscription on the southern façade of the church, dating from the early 11th century, reads "Holy Trinity, bless the King of all Georgia, Bagrat Kuropalati". The inscription also tells us that the church was dedicated to the Holy Trinity (Sameba).

For a long time the church and monastery of Katskhi remained the family monastery and burial place of the Baghvashi princes. Several important figures of Georgian history are buried in the monastery, including

1. Rati Baghvashi (1021), the founder of the monastery,

2. Rati's grandson, Liparit IV. Baghvashi, who unofficially ruled the whole of Georgia for some time in the 11th century.

3. king of the Imeretian region and grand prince of Guria, Giorgi VI.

4. Grand Duke of Argveti (Western Georgia) Levan Abashidze

5. Grand Prince of Western Georgia Davit Lionidze, the son of Solomon Lionidze, who was the right-hand man of Georgian King Irakli II. Solomon, together with King Irakli II and Prince Garsewan Chavchavadze, drew up the famous Treaty of Georgievski.

Powerful princes forced to leave their residence

At the beginning of the 12th century, during the reign of Dawit the Builder, the princes of Baghvashi rebelled against the king and had violent disputes with him, as a result of which the monastery and the Katskhi residence were taken away from the princes. From then on, the monastery disappeared from Georgian chronicles, only to reappear in the 16th century as the family monastery of the Abashidze dynasty. The Abashidzes rebuilt the ruined monastery and dedicated it to the birth of Jesus.

Restoration of the monastery by the Muslims

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Abashidze princes living in the region wanted to renovate the Katskhi monastery. However, they lacked the funds and decided to ask for help from their distant relatives with the same surname, the Muslim princes of the Atshara region. The Muslim Georgians did not hesitate and sent the best stonemasons of Atshara, the three Durmishis brothers. After the restoration, one of the brothers, Joseph, remained in the monastery, was baptised a Christian and married the daughter of the church warden. His descendants, the Durmishis, still live in western Georgia.

Katskhi Monastery and its educational centre 

The Abashidzes established an educational centre in the monastery, where hundreds of books were written and translated. The school and its rich library were looted shortly before the Bolsheviks closed the monastery in 1924.

During the Soviet era there were many attempts to reopen the church, but they were unsuccessful.

It was not until 1990 that a priest, Amiran Modebadze, was allowed to consecrate the church. He is still in Katskhi today, as head of the church and monastery (as of 2020).

In 2001 the church was restored by Nargiz Abashidze, a descendant of the Abashidze princes.

General information and architectural features of the Katskhi Church

Length 13.5 m. Width 12 m. Height 17.5 m.

The church consists of three octagonal floors that taper upwards like a wedding cake. Each level is covered by a retractable roof.

The lowest and widest floor forms a gallery around the south, north and west sides of the church, with an entrance in each direction.

As a result, when you enter the church, you are not entering the central part of the church, but the gallery, which acts as a narthex and is the architectural feature of the church. The gallery was not built until 30 years after the completion of the church, but it must have been included in the original plan. The richly decorated façades are best preserved in this part of the church.

The central, second part of the church also had very elaborate facade decoration, much of which was lost during the renovation in 1854.

The wide dome of the church has a folding roof, like the first and second parts of the church, but with 12 narrow windows.

The church is surrounded by a stone wall, rebuilt in 1937.

To the east of the wall is the bell tower from the 16th-17th centuries, which also serves as an entrance portal.

Icons of the Katskhi Church

The church housed many valuable religious objects, the most important of which was the icon of Jesus with the Gospel and the blessing hand. The icon is made using a sophisticated technique of cell fusion (cloisonné) and is set in a finely worked gilded silver frame.

This icon was made in the 12th century and donated to the church by the Grand Prince Kakhaber. Kakhaber is the person who, together with the Georgian Patriarch, crowned Queen Tamara in the 12th century.

In 1923, after the Bolsheviks came to power, the church was looted. The priceless icon disappeared, but was recovered two years later and has since been displayed in the Tbilisi Museum of Art.