Sapara Monastery (Safara) (Region Samtskhe – Javakheti)
Sapara Monastery (Safara) (Georg. საფარას მონასტერი) – medieval Georgian monastery. Literally, the name of the monastery is translated as “hidden”. It is located on one of the peaks of the mountain in a gorge, as if hidden from prying eyes by a fluffy forest. The monastery consists of several buildings erected at different times. On its territory there are active and abandoned temples and churches, ruins of fortifications, towers, outbuildings. Sapara Monastery gained particular fame thanks to the frescoes of the 15th century miraculously preserved in the church of St. Saba.
The first temple of the complex is the Church of the Assumption – a simple building made of stone slabs. It is remarkable for its interior decoration – unusual capitals of the columns. The main domed church of St. Saba was built at the turn of the 13th-14th centuries. The interior and exterior of the temple are decorated with numerous decorations and carvings. The name of the architect of the temple – Parezasdze – is mentioned in the inscription above the window in the western part of the temple. An interesting fact is that all the roofs and domes of the buildings of the Sapara monastery are made of stone slabs, and not covered with tiles, as local builders usually did. Thanks to atypical technology, the ancient buildings of the Sapara Monastery have survived to this day in their original form and are well preserved. On the western side of the monastery rise the ruins of an old fortress.
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