Gantiadi church

Gantiadi church განთიადის ტაძარი (in Georgian) Ганҭиади иҟоу аныхабаа (in Abkhaz)
Ruins of Gantiadi church
Religion
Affiliation	Georgian Orthodox
Province	Abkhazia[1]
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	ruins
Location
Location	Gantiadi, Gagra District, Abkhazia, Georgia
Shown within Abkhazia Show map of Abkhazia Gantiadi church (Georgia) Show map of Georgia
Geographic coordinates	43°22′45″N 40°04′15″E / 43.37917°N 40.07083°E / 43.37917; 40.07083
Architecture
Type	Church
Completed	6th century

The Gantiadi Church or Tsandripshi Church (Georgian: განთიადის ტაძარი; Abkhaz: Ганҭиади иҟоу аныхабаа) is a 6th-century three-apse basilica, located in the settlement of Gantiadi (Gagra District) in Abkhazia, a disputed region of Georgia.^[2]

Church was built in 543 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565) when Abazg tribes has been Christianized.

The church building was altered several times in 8-10th centuries. In 1576 it was partly destroyed by Ottoman invaders. It is one of the oldest Christian temples in the Western Caucasus. Nowadays only the ruins of the basilica are left standing.

In the ruins of the Basilica was found a fragment of the tombstone with the Greek uncial inscription. It seems most likely that the inscription belonged to the tomb of a clerical or secular dignitary of Abkhazia. The name of the buried is lost. The inscription is dated back to the 6th c. The church is a three-nave basilica, built of medium-size limestone Quadra of regular shape and flat bricks of varied sizes.

Tsandripshi church has been given the status of national importance monument.

• V. Jaoshvili, R. Rcheulishvili, Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, V. 2, p. 680, Tb., 1977 year.
• Cultural Heritage in Abkhazia, Tbilisi, 2015

This article on an Eastern Orthodox church building in Georgia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e