Jvari Monastery ( Monastery of the Cross) and remnants of its stone fortification wall on top of Jvari Mount near Mtskheta, Georgia, Caucasus
Wikipedia: Jvari Monastery is a sixth-century Georgian Orthodox monastery near Mtskheta, eastern Georgia. Along with other historic structures of Mtskheta, it is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Jvari is a rare case of the Early Medieval Georgian church that survived to the present day almost unchanged. The church became the founder of its type, the Jvari type of church architecture, prevalent in Georgia and Armenia. Built atop of Jvari Mount (656 m ), the monastery is an example of harmonious connection with the natural environment, characteristic to Georgian architecture. vari 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 (or vine) 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 during the rule of Guaram I, and named the "Small Church of Jvari", which can still be seen adjacent to the main church from the north. The small church did not satisfy the needs of popular pilgrimage site, and the present building, or "Great Church of Jvari", is generally held to have been built between 590 and 605 by Guaram's son Erismtavari Stepanoz I. This is based on the Jvari inscriptions on its facade which mentions the principal builders of the church: Stephanos the patricius, Demetrius the hypatos, and Adarnase the hypatos. Professor Cyril Toumanoff disagrees with this view, identifying these individuals as Stepanoz II, Demetre (brother of Stepanoz I), and Adarnase II (son of Stepanoz II), respectively. Nino's cross remained inside of the church, and its original p
Size: 6978px × 4657px
Location: Mtskheta, Mtskheta-Mtianeti province, Georgia, Caucasus
Photo credit: © Bert de Ruiter / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: architectural, architecture, bert, building, caucasus, christian, christianity, church, cross, de, dzjvari, eurasia, exterior, fortification, georgia, georgian, heritage, historic, historical, horizontal, jvari, landscape, medieval, monastery, mount, mtskheta, mtskheta-mtianeti, orthodox, province, religion, religious, remnants, ruins, ruiter, site, stone, structure, travel, wall, world
