The Dikhazurga church of Saint Barbara (Georgian: დიხაზურგის წმინდა ბარბარეს ეკლესია, Abkhaz: Дихазургатәи Барбара ацқьа луахәама) is a ruined medieval church at the village of Dikhazurga in the Gali district of Abkhazia, an entity in the South Caucasus with a disputed political status.[2]
| Dikhazurga Saint Barbara Church დიხაზურგის წმინდა ბარბარეს ეკლესია(in Georgian) | |
|---|---|
 The Dikhazurga plaque (Janashvili, 1907) | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Georgian Orthodox |
| District | Gali district |
| Province | Abkhazia[1] |
| Location | |
| Location |  Dikhazurga, Gali district, Abkhazia, Georgia |
  Shown within Abkhazia  Dikhazurga Saint Barbara Church (Georgia) | |
| Geographic coordinates | 42°37′08″N 41°50′53″E / 42.61889°N 41.84806°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Church |
History
editThe ruins were first described in 1907 by the historian Mose Janashvili, sent by the Caucasus Division of the Moscow Imperial Archaeological Society in response to an incidental find of an old Georgian stone inscription in the vicinity. The ruins of a hall-church-type chapel, traditionally held to have been built in honor of Saint Barbara, lie in the historical district of Samurzakano, on the right bank of the Enguri River, in what was an estate of the nobleman Mikia at the time of Janashvili's visit. By that time, the church had already been reduced to a pile of white limestone blocks.[3] A white limestone plaque discovered there bears an image, carved in relief, of a man who is turned in supplication towards the cross. Above this scene there is a Georgian inscription, carved in the mkhedruli script and paleographically dated to the 11th century, making it one of the earliest specimens of this latest version of the Georgian alphabet. The text mentions "Gregory, the chief mason" (გრიგოლ გალატოზთუხუცესი).[4]
References
edit- ^ The political status of Abkhazia is disputed. Having unilaterally declared independence from Georgia in 1992, Abkhazia is formally recognised as an independent state by 5 UN member states (two other states previously recognised it but then withdrew their recognition), while the remainder of the international community recognizes it as de jure Georgian territory. Georgia continues to claim the area as its own territory, designating it as Russian-occupied territory.
- ^ St. Barbara church in Dikhazurga village. Historical monuments of Abkhazia — Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.
- ^ Janashvili, Mose (1907). "От Ново-Сенак до сел. Дихазурга : (Отчет по командировке в Самурзакано)" [From New Senaki to the village Dikhazurga (Report of the mission to Samurzakano)]. Izvestiya Kavkazskogo Otdela Imperatorskogo Moskovskogo Arheologicheskogo Obshchestva (in Russian). 2 (1): 18–26.
- ^ Kapanadze, Salome, ed. (2007). Georgian Cultural Heritage. Book 1: Abkhazeti. Tbilisi: Ministry of Education and Culture of Abkhazia. p. 109.