Photos of the Medieval Georgian Sapara Monastery Georgia

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Photos of the Medieval Georgian Sapara Monastery Georgia,(country). A 13th century Georgian Orthodox Monastic complex. Photos by photographer Paul E Williams.  (TIP – use the icons below the slideshow for thumbnail photos and info)

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Photos of the Medieval Georgian Sapara Monastery Georgia,(country).

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Pictures photos images of the medieval Sapara Monastery Georgian Orthodox monastery church of St Saba, 13th century, Akhaltsikhe, Georgia.

Sapara Monastery Complex

Sapara Monastery complex is one of the oldest and greatest monastic ensembles in Georgia. Founded in the 9th century Sapara Monastery can boast of having had many important Georgian monks amongst its members.

Today, the main building of Sapara Monastery complex is the church of St Saba built during the 13th century. At that time the Jakeli family ruled over the area and were adept at being on good terms with their Mongol over lords. This gave the region a stability that allowed Sapara Monastery to flourish.

Highly Crafted Building

Technically, St Saba church was built to extremely high standards by skilled craftsmen. The outside of the church is lined with warm coloured stone that has remained in perfect condition for over 800 years. The stone work on the exterior of St Saba shows that the very best stone masons were employed to build the church. There are some very fine Georgian sculpture work on the exterior.

Fine examples of Georgian geometric bas relief sculpture can be seen around the cupola windows, a classic Georgian style cylindrical drum with tall slender windows in it. The chapel next to St Saba has fine examples of medieval Georgian inscriptions cut into the stone.

Sapara Church Fresco Paintings

The inside of St Saba would have originally been completely painted with fine frescoes. Today these are badly damaged and only a few fragments remain. On the inside of the cupola roof is a fresco of Christ Pantocrator.

At the beginning of 17th century the Ottoman Empire expanded looting and closing monasteries. To avoid this fate the monks of Sapara Monastery abandoned the complex taking the monasteries treasures with them.