ერედვის ბაზილიკა | |
 Eredvi basilica of St. George | |
 | |
| 42°14′54″N44°02′19″E / 42.248447°N 44.038632°E /42.248447; 44.038632 (Eredvi) | |
| Location | Eredvi,Eredvi Municipality,Shida Kartli,Georgia /Tskhinvali District,South Ossetia |
|---|---|
| Type | Three-church basilica |
TheEredvi basilica of Saint George (Georgian:ერედვის წმინდა გიორგის ბაზილიკა,romanized:eredvis ts'minda giorgis bazilik'a) is an early 10th-centuryGeorgian Orthodox church in the village of Eredvi in theShida Kartli region, currently in the disputed territory ofSouth Ossetia. It was constructed by the architect Tevdore Taplaisdze, who laid foundation of the church in 906 as related in a Georgian inscription on the building. The church is athree-navebasilica, which, despite later reconstructions, has largely preserved its original architectural features. The church is inscribed on the list of theImmovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia. After the 2008Russo-Georgian War, the Georgians lost access to the church and services there were restricted by the South Ossetian authorities.
The Eredvi church of St. George is located in the village of Eredvi in theLittle Liakhvi valley, 5 km northwest of the city ofTskhinvali. The village, whose recorded history goes back to the 14th century,[1] was part of theSouth Ossetian Autonomous Oblast inSoviet Georgia, remained under the Georgian control after the1991–1992 South Ossetia War, and was overran by the Russian and South Ossetian forces in the 2008Russo-Georgian War. During the August 2008 hostilities, thecurtain wall of the Eredvi church was partially damaged.[2] According to theUnited States Department of State's International Religious Freedom Report for 2014, the South Ossetian authorities did not permit services in the Georgian Orthodox churches, such as Eredvi.[3] In 2017, the largely ruined village Eredvi,deprived of its ethnic Georgian population, was completely demolished by the South Ossetian authorities with the Russian aid.[4] The church was reported standing untouched by the Tskhinvali-based South Ossetian media[5] and a local video blogger.[6]
The church was placed on the list of theImmovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia in 2007.[7] It is protected as part of the Greater Liakhvi Valley Museum and Reserve, whose administration, after the 2008 war, is based in exile in the Verkhvebi neighborhood ofGori and is tasked with collecting information on cultural monuments in South Ossetia left beyond Georgia's control.[8]
The Eredvi basilica is enclosed within the complex of a ruined fortress, which consists of a rampart—irregular rectangle in shape—and two towers to its northwest. The towers, one of which in ruins and the other rising three storeys, are dated to the 13th–14th century; the rampart was reconstructed in the 18th.[1] By the 18th century, both the fortress and the church were in possession of the PrincesPavlenishvili. The church was deemed to have been "miraculous" as reported byPrince Vakhushti[9] and was described by the 1826 FrenchDictionnaire géographique universel as the site of an yearly pilgrimage.[10]
The basilica, which measures 13 × 21 metres, is built of hewn stone and is roofed with tiles.[1] It is a modified three-nave design, peculiar for the early medieval Georgian architecture, and defined by the art historianGiorgi Chubinashvili as "three-church" basilicas. These are a series of churches, in which the nave is completely separated from the aisles with solid walls, in order to create what are almost three independent churches.[11]
Anambulatory at Eredvi envelopes the church from all four sides, including the eastern façade, a feature unusual for the contemporaneous churches of this type, which usually had an ambulatory running on three sides.[12] The main nave is divided by prominentpilasters into two nearly equal parts. Thevault over the middle nave is supported by arches. The arch of a semicircularapse is two-tiered and somewhat horseshoe-shaped. The apse itself is lower than the central chamber. The entrance to the church is from south, and additionally, from the west. The window and doors are decorated with carved stone headpieces and crosses.[1]
The Eredvi basilica contains an engraved inscription in the medieval Georgianasomtavruli script, placed in the upper part of a round column on the southern wall. It is made in the name of the architect Teodore Taplaisdze and dates laying the foundation of the church to 906. The text makes mention of contemporary lay and clerical dignitaries, such KingConstantine III of Abkhazia, who had recently conquered the wider region ofKartli from itsBagratid rulers, Ivane Tbeli, member of thegreat noble family of Kartli, and Bishop Stephen of Nikozi, the church's patron. The inscription, further, relates Constantine's victorious campaign againstHereti and his reduction of the fortress of Vejini in that country.[13]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)