Lashkendari Church ( ka, ლაშქენდარის ეკლესია, tr) is a ruined medieval church on Mount

Lashkendar Lashkendar is a mountain in Abkhazia. Its main summit is high. The mountain is one of the seven shrines of the Abkhaz people. There are also ruins of a Christian temple on one of its lesser summits () featuring bas-reliefs of leopards (or possibl ...

Abkhazia Abkhazia, ka, აფხაზეთი, tr, , xmf, აბჟუა, abzhua, or ( or ), officially the Republic of Abkhazia, is a partially recognised state in the South Caucasus, recognised by most countries as part of Georgia, which vi ...

, an entity in the

South Caucasus The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

with a disputed political status. It is located near the small village of Khuhkuni in the

Ochamchire Municipality Ochamchire Municipality ( ka, ოჩამჩირის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Očamčiris municip’alit’et’i'') is an administrative unit in the Georgian Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. The capital of the municipali ...

Tkvarcheli District Tkvarcheli District ( ka, ტყვარჩელის რაიონი, ab, Тҟәарчал араион, russian: Ткварчелский район) is one of the districts of Abkhazia. It has no equivalent Georgian district, as it was n ...

, some 5-6 km south-east of the town of

Tkvarcheli Tkvarcheli ( ka, ტყვარჩელი ; ab, Тҟəарчал, ''Tqwarchal''; Ткуарчал (Tkuarchal) russian: Ткварчели, ''Tkvarcheli'') is a town in Abkhazia. It is situated on the river Ghalidzga (Aaldzga) and a railway c ...

. The site is revered as a holy shrine by both Abkhaz and

Georgians The Georgians, or Kartvelians (; ka, ქართველები, tr, ), are a nation and indigenous Caucasian ethnic group native to Georgia and the South Caucasus. Georgian diaspora communities are also present throughout Russia, Turkey, G ...

Description

The church is a complex building, consisting of a main domed edifice to which a smaller church with a semi-circular

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

is attached on the north. The whole complex is surrounded by a 100-meter-long protective fence. The two churches communicate through a doorway. The complex can be entered through four doors. The central entrance, located on the south side of the fence, is surmounted with an arch with a Christian cross curved in relief. Above the western door is a bas-relief with two stylized animals facing each other. This piece of arts has its closest parallel to the depiction of two deer on a tympanum above the northern portal of the 7th-century

Ateni Sioni Church The Ateni Sioni Church ( ka, ატენის სიონი) is an early 7th-century Georgian Orthodox church in the village of Ateni, some south of the city of Gori, Georgia. It stands in a setting of Ateni gorge in the Tana River valley ...

in eastern Georgia. The remaining two doors are on the northern side of the wall. The dome of the main church has collapsed. The gate of the church — apparently a later addition — is well-preserved. The church is surrounded by an artificial platform with burials. Archaeological excavations revealed several items, such as: bronze lion figures, candlesticks, different types of ritual items, bearing similarities with other examples of medieval Georgian Christian art. The complex has been variously dated to the period from the 7th to the 11th centuries.

References

Religious buildings and structures in Georgia (country) Religious buildings and structures in Abkhazia Churches in Abkhazia {{Georgia-church-stub