The Gudava church of Saint Barbara (Georgian: გუდავის წმინდა ბარბარეს ეკლესია, Abkhaz: Гәдаатәи Барбара ацқьа луахәама ) is a medieval church in the village of Second Gudava in Ochamchira District what is now Abkhazia, an entity in the South Caucasus with a disputed political status. It is located near the estuary of the Okumi river in the historical district of Samurzakano in southeastern Abkhazia. [2]
| Gudava Saint Barbara Church გუდავის წმინდა ბარბარეს ეკლესია (in Georgian) Гәдаатәи Барбара ацқьа луахәама (in Abkhaz) | |
|---|---|
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Georgian Orthodox |
| District | Ochamchira District |
| Province | Abkhazia[1] |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | ruins |
| Location | |
| Location |  Ochamchira District, Abkhazia, Georgia |
  Shown within Abkhazia  Gudava Saint Barbara Church (Georgia) | |
| Geographic coordinates | 42°35′40″N 41°31′15″E / 42.59444°N 41.52083°E |
| Architecture | |
| Type | Church |
| Completed | 6-7th century |
History
editThe first church in this location existed in the 6th-7th century.[2] The extant monument is a hall church, probably dated to the 15th or 16th-century. A stone plaque found at the church and now preserved in the National Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi, bears the medieval Georgian inscription in an asomtavruli script, making mention of the certain Rabay and his wife, Nugamtsira.[3] The church probably stands on the site of an earlier place of worship, once an episcopal seat, which is mentioned by the medieval Georgian chronicles as Gudaqva, abolished by the early 11th-century monarch Bagrat III of Georgia. This is identified in modern scholarship with the Ziganeos of the Eastern Roman sources, one of the suffragan dioceses of the metropolitan see of Lazica.[4][5] The remains of a Byzantine cathedral have not been discovered,[6] but a 4th-5th-century rectangular baptistery with a protruding apse as well as remnants of a Roman fortified wall was unearthed in the village by a Georgian archaeological expedition led by Parmen Zakaraia between 1965 and 1972.[7]
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.
- ^ a b St Barbara church in Gudava village. Historical monuments of Abkhazia — Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.
- ^ Kapanadze, Salome, ed. (2007). Georgian Cultural Heritage. Book 1: Abkhazeti. Tbilisi: Ministry of Education and Culture of Abkhazia. p. 118.
- ^ Khroushkova, Liudmila (2006). Les monuments chrétiens de la côte orientale de la Mer Noire: Abkhazie, IVe-XIVe siècles. Brepols. p. 90. ISBN 2503523870.
- ^ Vinogradov, Andrey (2014). "Some Notes on the Topography of Eastern Pontos Euxeinos in Late Antiquity and Early Byzantium". SSRN Electronic Journal: 9. doi:10.2139/ssrn.2543458. S2CID 127576670.
- ^ Khrushkova, Liudmila G. (2018). Восточное Причерноморье в византийскую эпоху. История. Архитектура. Археология [The East Coast of the Black Sea in the Byzantine era. History. Architecture. Archaeology] (in Russian). Kalininigrad – Moscow: ROS-DOAFK. pp. 33, 54. ISBN 978-5-6040479-8-9.
- ^ Gamkrelidze, Gela; Mindorashvili, Davit; Bragvadze, Zurab; Kvatsadze, Marine, eds. (2013). "გუდაყვა [Gudaqva]". ქართლის ცხოვრების ტოპოარქეოლოგიური ლექსიკონი [Topoarchaeological dictionary of Kartlis tskhovreba (The history of Georgia)] (PDF) (in Georgian) (1st ed.). Tbilisi: Georgian National Museum. pp. 168–169. ISBN 978-9941-15-896-4.