ANCHISKHATI CHURCH

Anchiskhati

Church of Anchiskhati (The city of Tbilisi)

Church of Anchiskhati (Georg. ანჩისხატის ეკლესია)– Its current name the church got in the XVII century. When a large icon of Anchi Cathedral (South Georgia)was moved here. Icon of the Savior – one of the greatest shrines of Georgia. It is made in the technique of encaustic (painting with hot wax paint), which originated in Byzantium before the VI century. Icon of the Savoir of Anchi became widely known in the XII century, when the court goldsmiths of Queen Tamara Becka Opizari made for it silver frame with gold inserts.

In the XVII century, private owners handed it over to the Church of St. Mary in Tbilisi. Here, the icon of the Savoir was over 200 years. At the end of the XIX century, for security reasons it was placed in the church museum. On the western facade of the temple there is carved from stone medallion with a cross, which has been preserved from the earliest part of the structure. Tops and arches were rebuilt in the XVII-XIX centuries. Today Anchishati icon is located in the Museum of Arts of Georgia.