Timotesubani ( ka, ტიმოთესუბანი) is a medieval Georgian Orthodox Christian monastic complex located at the eponymous village in the Borjomi Gorge,

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 Samtskhe-Javakheti

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 an ...

. The complex consists of a series of structures built between the 11th and 18th centuries, of which the Church of the

Dormition The Dormition of the Mother of God is a Great Feast of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Churches (except the East Syriac churches). It celebrates the "falling asleep" (death) of Mary the ''Theotokos'' ("Mother of ...

is the largest and artistically most exquisite edifice constructed during the "

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the '' Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

" of medieval Georgia under Queen Tamar ( r. 1184–1213). A contemporary inscription commemorates the Georgian nobleman Shalva of Akhaltsikhe as a patron of the church. The church is a domed

cross-in-square A cross-in-square or crossed-dome plan was the dominant architectural form of middle- and late-period Byzantine churches. It featured a square centre with an internal structure shaped like a cross, topped by a dome. The first cross-in-square chu ...

design built of pink stone, with three

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''. ...

s projecting on the east. Its dome rests upon the two freely standing pillars and ledges of the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

. Later, two – the western and southern – portals were added. The interior was extensively frescoed in no later than 1220s. The Timotesubani murals are noted for their vivacity and complexity of

iconographic Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of the visual arts used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visu ...

program.Eastmond, Antony (1998), ''Royal Imagery in Medieval Georgia'', p. 211.

Penn State Press The Penn State University Press, also known as The Pennsylvania State University Press, was established in 1956 and is a non-profit publisher of scholarly books and journals. It is the independent publishing branch of the Pennsylvania State Uni ...

, . These frescoes were cleaned and studied by E. Privalova and colleagues in the 1970s and underwent emergency treatment and conservation with aid from the

World Monuments Fund World Monuments Fund (WMF) is a private, international, non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation of historic architecture and cultural heritage sites around the world through fieldwork, advocacy, grantmaking, education, and trainin ...

and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in the 2000s.Preservation of Medieval Monuments: the Church of the Virgin in Timotesubani
''The Georgian Arts & Culture Center'', April 2007

References

13th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Georgian Orthodox monasteries {{Georgia-EO-church-stub