Shemokmedi Monastery, Orthodox monastery in Guria, Georgia
Shemokmedi is a monastery complex in Guria featuring two churches: the Redeemer and the Transfiguration, with a bell tower built on the monastery fence. The complex sits at about 190 meters elevation and displays the solid stone construction typical of Georgian monasteries.
The monastery was founded in the 15th century and developed into a bishop's seat. It also became the burial place for the Gurieli princely family of Georgia.
The monastery's collection was first described in 1873 by Dimitri Bakradze, and Nikodim Kondakov catalogued the surviving treasures in 1889. Since 1924 most of the extant objects have been held by the Georgian National Museum. The first bishop of Shemokmedi, Besarion Machutadze, is depicted in a fresco on the wall of the Zarzma church.
The monastery stands on a small hill on the left bank of the Bzhuzhi river, about 7–8 km southwest of Ozurgeti. The entrance is through the bell tower, which is built upon the monastery fence. The ruined Gorisperdi church lies about 1.5 km to the northeast, on the right bank of the Bzhuzhi.
The Church of the Transfiguration was built in the late 1570s on the orders of Prince Vakhtang I Gurieli to house the venerated 9th-century Icon of the Transfiguration, brought from Zarzma Monastery after the Ottoman conquest of Samtskhe. This origin gave the church its other name, "Zarzma".
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