The Zemo Nikozi church of the Archangel ( ka, ზემო ნიქოზის მთავარანგელოზის ეკლესია, tr) is a 10th-century

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

church in the

Gori Municipality Gori ( ka, გორის მუნიციპალიტეტი, ''Goris municiṗaliṫeṫi'') is a district of Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli. After abolishment of former South Ossetian Autonomous Oblast, the Gori District includ ...

, in

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 ...

's east-central

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 ...

Shida Kartli Shida Kartli ( ka, შიდა ქართლი, , ; "Inner Kartli") is a landlocked administrative region (''Mkhare'') in eastern Georgia. It comprises a central part of the historical-geographic province of Shida Kartli. With an area of , Sh ...

. It is inscribed on the list of Georgia's

Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance The Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance ( ka, ეროვნული მნიშვნელობის კატეგორიის კულტურის უძრავი ძეგლები) are buildings, structures ...

. A small domed church, it stands in what is now the village of

Zemo Nikozi Zemo Nikozi is a village in central Georgia (shida kartli) near the Russian and south Ossetian military forces' check-point. It is the birthplace of Patriarch Kyrion II of Georgia. Nikozi is One of Georgia's oldest villages and home to early Chri ...

—an "upper" part of the historical settlement of Nikozi—on the right bank of the

Greater Liakhvi River The Great Liakhvi ( ''Didi Liakhvi'', , ''Styr Lewakhi'') is a river in central Georgia, which rises on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus Mountain Range in the de facto independent region of South Ossetia and flows into the Kura (Mtk ...

, at an old cemetery, some 100 m. south of the

Zemo Nikozi church of the Deity The Zemo Nikozi church of the Deity ( ka, ზემო ნიქოზის ღვთაების ეკლესია, tr), also known as Ghvtaeba (ღვთაება), is a medieval Georgian Orthodox cathedral in the Gori Municipality, in ...

. Being in close proximity to the

South Ossetia South Ossetia, ka, სამხრეთი ოსეთი, ( , ), officially the Republic of South Ossetia – the State of Alania, is a partially recognised landlocked state in the South Caucasus. It has an officially stated populat ...

conflict zone, the church survived the August 2008

Russo-Georgian War The 2008 Russo-Georgian WarThe war is known by a variety of other names, including Five-Day War, August War and Russian invasion of Georgia. was a war between Georgia, on one side, and Russia and the Russian-backed self-proclaimed republics of Sou ...

, which heavily damaged parts of the church of the Deity complex.

Architecture

Zemo Nikozi church of the Archangel is a small domed structure, measuring 8.5 × 5.3 m. It is a form of

cross-in-square A cross-in-square or crossed-dome floor plan, plan was the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine Empire, Byzantine church architecture, churches. It featured a square centre with an internal structure shaped like a cross ...

design, known as ''kuppelhalle'' (domed rectangle) and built of neatly dressed grayish

basalt Basalt (; ) is an aphanite, aphanitic (fine-grained) extrusive igneous rock formed from the rapid cooling of low-viscosity lava rich in magnesium and iron (mafic lava) exposed at or very near the planetary surface, surface of a terrestrial ...

stone blocks. The

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

rests on

pilasters In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...

sharply projecting from the longitudinal walls, its drum lit by four windows. The building terminates in a semicircular

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 ...

on the east, which has small apsed niches on each side. The transition from the square bay to the dome circle is achieved through

squinches In architecture, a squinch is a triangular corner that supports the base of a dome. Its visual purpose is to translate a rectangle into an octagon. See also: pendentive. Construction A squinch is typically formed by a masonry arch that spans ...

and

pendentives In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...

. The church can be entered through three symmetrically arranged doors in the west, south, and north arms. The doors used to be embellished with semicircular pilasters and arches running above them. The exterior of the dome is adorned with a

blind arch A blind arch is an arch found in the wall of a building that has been infilled with solid construction and so cannot serve as a passageway, door or window.''A Dictionary of Architecture''; Fleming, John; Honour, Hugh & Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966) T ...

supported by a paired

colonettes A colonnette is a small slender column, usually decorative, which supports a beam or lintel. Colonettes have also been used to refer to a feature of furnishings such as a dressing table and case clock, and even studied by archeologists in Roman ce ...

. The north façade carries a stone carving depicting the equestrian

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

slaying the dragon and the dome base, to the north, bears three stylized lions carved in relief. A five-line inscription in the medieval Georgian ''

asomtavruli The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: #Asomtavruli, Asomtavruli, #Nuskhuri, Nuskhuri and #Mkhedruli, Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, their Letter (alphabet), letters share t ...

'' script on the north wall proclaims that the church was built by Bishop Michael (Mikael), who is the same churchman commemorated in an inscription from the church of the Deity. Just above is another inscription, now badly damaged. On a stone above the north window in the dome, between two lion figures, there is the third inscription, arranged in four lines, which mentions Bishop Michael's sisterly nephew, John (Iovane).

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Shida Kartli Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia Georgian Orthodox churches in Georgia (country) 10th-century churches in Georgia (country)