Urbnisi cathedral
ურბნისის ტაძარი | |
 Urbnisi cathedral. West façade. | |
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| 42°00′39″N43°58′47″E/ 42.010869°N 43.979801°E | |
| Location | Urbnisi,Kareli Municipality Shida Kartli,Georgia |
|---|---|
| Type | Three-nave basilica |
TheUrbnisi cathedral of Saint Stephen the Protomartyr(Georgian:ურბნისის წმიდა სტეფანე პირველმოწამის სახელობის საკათედრო ტაძარი,romanized:urbnisis ts'mida st'epane p'irvelmots'amis sakhelobis sak'atedro t'adzari), commonly known as theSioni church of Urbnisi(ურბნისის სიონი,urbnisis sioni), is aGeorgian Orthodoxcathedral at the village ofUrbnisiinGeorgia's east-centralShida Kartliregion. The church is a relatively largethree-navebasilica,originally built in the 6th century and reconstructed in the 10th and 17th centuries. The church walls bear several inscriptions, some being among the oldest executed in theGeorgian alphabet.The cathedral is inscribed on the list of Georgia'sImmovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance.[1]
History
[edit]The Urbnisi cathedral stands on the left bank of theKura riverin the eponymous village in theKareli Municipality,Shida Kartli region, in the eastern part of the old settlement of Urbnisi where archaeological studies uncovered material from theChalcolithicand theearly Bronze Ageto the 8th century AD.[2]
The Urbnisi church is dedicated toSaint Stephen,aprotomartyrof the 1st century. Following a medieval Georgian tradition of naming churches after particular places in theHoly Land,the cathedral also bears the name ofMount ZionatJerusalem.A carved inscription in the north façade, in the early Georgianasomtavruliscript, makes mention of the builders of the church—Konstanti and Father Mikel—but the text is undated: stylistic analysis of the architectural layout andpaleographicalfeatures of the inscription suggests a date in the 5th or 6th century.[2]
The Urbnisi cathedral was the seat of a Georgian Orthodox bishop bearing the title of Urbneli and known since at least the 8th century. In 1103, Urbnisi was one of the two locations of thelandmark church councilconvened by KingDavid IV of Georgia,the other being the nearbyRuisi cathedral.[3]Currently, Urbnisi and Ruisi are the two principal cathedrals in the Eparchy of Urbnisi and Ruisi of the Georgian Orthodox Church.[4]
Layout
[edit]Main church
[edit]
The Urbnisi church is a relatively longthree-navebasilica, measuring 32.1 × 22.4 m. Principle construction phases are readily discernible in the church walls: the lower part is of stone, well-hewnsandstoneblocks laid in regular horizontal courses representing the oldest layer and those placed irregularly constituting the 9th–10th-century reconstruction; the upper part of the church was built of thin bricks, supported by two brick arch-buttresses on either side, in 1668. There are three principal entrances,—by a north, south, and west door. Fragments of anarchitravestone and horseshoe-shapedlunetteon the east entrance are remnants of the first building layer.[2]
The interior is composed of three naves separated by four pairs of cruciformpillarswith simply profiledimpostshewn out of rectangular stone blocks and cuboid bases. The pillars and semicircular brick arches supported by them divide thebarrel-vaultedcentral nave into five almost equal sizedaisles.The sanctuary is elevated one step up from floor level. The lateral naves end to the east in chambers used aspastophoria.The church had two annexes: the one on the south is contemporaneous with the church and terminates to the east in a small chapel (eukterion), while the north annex is a later addition. The church is roofed with ceramic tiles.[2]
Inscriptions
[edit]There are a few inscribed stones on the exterior and a high relief cross on the west façade. Apart from the text on the north façade, which enables the church to be dated to the 5th–6th century, there are four moreasomtavruliinscriptions—one above the south door and the rest on the east façade—made by the 10th-century re-builders of the church and mentioning several persons, such as the bishop Tevdore and the deacon Abiathar.[2][5]The east façade also bears several other inscriptions left by pilgrims.[2]
Other structures
[edit]Some 15 m west of the church stands a three-storeybell-towerbuilt of stone and brick and measuring 9.1 × 10.2. It was constructed—as related in an inscription on the west façade—at the behest ofVakhtang of Kartliand his wifeRusudanin 1706. Its ground floor acts as theporch.[2]Near the church are other elements of the old Urbnisi settlements such as a circuit wall with ramparts, a 3rd-century bathhouse, a medieval winery, and an aqueduct.[2]
References
[edit]- ^"List of Immovable Cultural Monuments"(PDF)(in Georgian). National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia.Retrieved25 July2019.
- ^abcdefghGamkrelidze, Gela; Mindorashvili, Davit; Bragvadze, Zurab; Kvatsadze, Marine, eds. (2013). "ურბნისი [Urbnisi]".ქართლის ცხოვრების ტოპოარქეოლოგიური ლექსიკონი[Topoarchaeological dictionary of Kartlis tskhovreba (The history of Georgia)](PDF)(in Georgian). Tbilisi: Georgian National Museum. pp. 506–509.ISBN978-9941-15-896-4.
- ^Rapp, Stephen H. Jr (2007). "Georgian Christianity". In Parry, Ken (ed.).The Blackwell Companion to Eastern Christianity.John Wiley & Sons. p. 146.ISBN978-1-4443-3361-9.
- ^"ურბნისისა და რუისის ეპარქია"[Eparchy of Urbnisi and Ruisi] (in Georgian). Patriarchate of the Georgian Orthodox Church.Retrieved21 August2019.
- ^Fähnrich, Heinz (2013).Die ältesten georgischen Inschriften[Oldest Georgian inscriptions] (in German). Brill. pp. 11, 162–163, 165.ISBN978-90-04-25108-3.