The Old Shuamta () is a

Georgian Orthodox The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

monastery in the

Kakheti Kakheti ( ka, კახეთი ''K’akheti''; ) is a region (mkhare) formed in the 1990s in eastern Georgia from the historical province of Kakheti and the small, mountainous province of Tusheti. Telavi is its capital. The region comprises eigh ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. It is located on a forested mountain about 1015 m

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

, and five kilometers west of the town of

Telavi Telavi ( ka, თელავი ) is the main city and administrative center of Georgia's eastern province of Kakheti. Its population consists of some 19,629 inhabitants (as of the year 2014). The city is located on the foothills of the Tsiv-Gombo ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

History

Shuamta means "between the mountains", which clearly refers to the isolated and picturesque location amidst the

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

forests of Gombori of the three buildings of the old Shuamta monastery. The monastic complex contains a basilica from the 5th century and two domed churches, both from the 7th century. The largest dome-shaped church is similar in type and architecture to the Jvari monastery. All the churches of the monastery are built in carved stone. It was abandoned in the 16th century. The wife of King Lewan II founded a new monastery with the name of New Shuamta. The main church of the new monastery was built of brick. The walls are decorated with frescoes. The monastery buildings were repaired by

Erekle II Heraclius II ( ka, ერეკლე II), also known as Erekle II and The Little Kakhetian ( ka, პატარა კახი ) (7 November 1720 or 7 October 1721 C. ToumanoffHitchins, KeithHeraclius II. ''Encyclopædia Iranica Online edit ...

. In 2008, the Old Shuamta monastery was restored.Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, Vol. 11, p. 50-51, Tb., 1987.

References

{{Authority control Kakheti Christian monasteries in Georgia (country)