Tsunda Church ( ka, წუნდის ეკლესია, tr) is a church in

Tsunda Tsunda ( ka, წუნდა) is an ancient city, administrative and religious center of the historical province Javakheti in Georgia. The city is mentioned in the chronicles. Tsunda served as the summer residence of kings and was the seat of the ...

, near

Tmogvi Tmogvi or Tmkaberd ( ka, თმოგვი ; hy, Թմկաբերդ) is a ruined fortress and medieval town in the southern Georgian region of Samtskhe-Javakheti, on the left bank of the Kura River, a few kilometers downstream of the cave city ...

fortress in the

Samtskhe–Javakheti Samtskhe–Javakheti ( ka, სამცხე-ჯავახეთი, , ) is a region (mkhare) in southern Georgia with a population of 151.110 (2021) and an area of . The region has Akhaltsikhe as its administrative center, while Besik Amirana ...

region of

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

Tsunda Church, dedicated to St

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

, dates back to the 12th-13th centuries. In this vicinity, there are natural hot water springs and terraced gardens. The church stands on the site of the ancient city

.Закарая, П. (1983) Памятники Восточной Грузии. Искусство, Москва, 376 с. akaraya, P. Monuments of Eastern GeorgiaIn Russian) The hall church was erected on the top of a high rock by Ichkit Gurgenisdze, as it is written above the western entrance. Its basement contains a crypta. The decorations are rather poor, except the door and window frames. The portal with reliefs was added some time after the church construction. As common for such churches the

vault Vault may refer to: * Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards Architecture * Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space * Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored * Burial vault (enclosure ...

is of barrel-chamber type, and the

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 ...

with conch is in the eastern part of the interior. Original frescoes are nearly destroyed.

External links

Hiking around Tsunda ChurchCulture in Samskhe-JavakhetiDescription of Tsunda church

References

Churches in Georgia (country) Buildings and structures in Samtskhe–Javakheti {{Georgia-church-stub