DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43337#0336
CHAPTER ONE. THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND DATING OF THE WALL PAINTINGS | 333
apart from the main church: the small basilica of St Basil and the ruins
of a two-storey residential building.
At varying distances around the monastery are four small church-
es dedicated, respectively, to the Trinity, the Apostles, St Gregory the
Theologian and St John Chrysostom33 34 35 36. Their origin is linked with the
Akhtala Monastery. The exact date of the Church of the Apostles, erect-
ed by a higumenos of the monastery, is given in the mid-13th-century
founder’s inscription37. The architectural forms of the other churches
also testify that they were built during the same period.
The main church at Akhtala is a large cross-domed building with
a ruined cupola. The significance of the spatial cross is enhanced in the
interior. The west arm of the cross is extended. The prothesis and diacon-
icon, which were turned into two-storey chapels, are isolated from the
sanctuary. The eastern dome supports merge with the walls of the bema.
The use of stepped domed arches must also be regarded as a Transcau-
casian feature. Some time after the building of the church was completed
a splendid richly decorated porch was added by the west entrance. In
the southern part of the porch is an isolated chamber which probably
served as a funerary chapel. In accordance with Georgian tradition the
facades of the church are decorated with large ornamental crosses with
elongated windows at their base. There are also typically Armenian ele-
ments in the decor of the portals and individual motifs of the ornament.
The combination of these two traditions is the most important charac-
teristic of the architectural treatment of the Akhtala church38. All in all,
the features suggest that the main church at Akhtala belongs among the
monuments of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. However, a study of
the historical sources provides a more precise dating.
33 For fundamental research on local history, see Matevosian R.I., Tashir-Dzoraget, 10th-Early
12th centuries. Yerevan, 1982.- In Armenian, see Bibliography.
34 See Babaian, History, p. 23.
35 See Arutyunyan V.M., Safaryan S.A. The monuments of Armenian architecture. Moscow,
1951. - In Russian, see Bibliography.
36 For a description of the extant buildings, see Bakradze 0. Caucasus through the ancient monu-
ments of Christianity//Notes of the Society of Caucasian Archaeology Amateurs, I (1875). P. 19-178
(in Russian); G.Shakhkian, Lori,The Stone Pages of History. Yerevan, 1986, pp. 129-133 (inArmenian).
37 See Takaishvili, Georgian Inscriptions, p. 142.
38 See Shmerling R. On the main Akhtala temple as a monument of the border region of Georgia
and Armenia // XI Research session of the Department of Social Sciences of Georgia. SSR. Ab-
stracts. Tbilisi, 1943. P. 118. - In Russian, see Bibliography.
apart from the main church: the small basilica of St Basil and the ruins
of a two-storey residential building.
At varying distances around the monastery are four small church-
es dedicated, respectively, to the Trinity, the Apostles, St Gregory the
Theologian and St John Chrysostom33 34 35 36. Their origin is linked with the
Akhtala Monastery. The exact date of the Church of the Apostles, erect-
ed by a higumenos of the monastery, is given in the mid-13th-century
founder’s inscription37. The architectural forms of the other churches
also testify that they were built during the same period.
The main church at Akhtala is a large cross-domed building with
a ruined cupola. The significance of the spatial cross is enhanced in the
interior. The west arm of the cross is extended. The prothesis and diacon-
icon, which were turned into two-storey chapels, are isolated from the
sanctuary. The eastern dome supports merge with the walls of the bema.
The use of stepped domed arches must also be regarded as a Transcau-
casian feature. Some time after the building of the church was completed
a splendid richly decorated porch was added by the west entrance. In
the southern part of the porch is an isolated chamber which probably
served as a funerary chapel. In accordance with Georgian tradition the
facades of the church are decorated with large ornamental crosses with
elongated windows at their base. There are also typically Armenian ele-
ments in the decor of the portals and individual motifs of the ornament.
The combination of these two traditions is the most important charac-
teristic of the architectural treatment of the Akhtala church38. All in all,
the features suggest that the main church at Akhtala belongs among the
monuments of the late 12th and early 13th centuries. However, a study of
the historical sources provides a more precise dating.
33 For fundamental research on local history, see Matevosian R.I., Tashir-Dzoraget, 10th-Early
12th centuries. Yerevan, 1982.- In Armenian, see Bibliography.
34 See Babaian, History, p. 23.
35 See Arutyunyan V.M., Safaryan S.A. The monuments of Armenian architecture. Moscow,
1951. - In Russian, see Bibliography.
36 For a description of the extant buildings, see Bakradze 0. Caucasus through the ancient monu-
ments of Christianity//Notes of the Society of Caucasian Archaeology Amateurs, I (1875). P. 19-178
(in Russian); G.Shakhkian, Lori,The Stone Pages of History. Yerevan, 1986, pp. 129-133 (inArmenian).
37 See Takaishvili, Georgian Inscriptions, p. 142.
38 See Shmerling R. On the main Akhtala temple as a monument of the border region of Georgia
and Armenia // XI Research session of the Department of Social Sciences of Georgia. SSR. Ab-
stracts. Tbilisi, 1943. P. 118. - In Russian, see Bibliography.