Kamani Church, Medieval monastery in Kamani, Georgia

Kamani Church is a 1980s reconstruction on the foundations of a medieval stone hall church without a protruding apse. The original building had two narrow windows, one in the altar and one in the west wall. A bell tower was added during the reconstruction, and a limestone sarcophagus weighing about a ton was found in the ground.

A medieval stone hall church without a protruding apse stood here until only its foundation remained. In 1898 a women's convent was founded under Russian rule; its church, built on the old foundation, was consecrated in 1900 to Saint Basiliskos of Komany, and by 1906 it housed up to 200 nuns. Closed after the revolution and later destroyed, the monastery was revived in 1986, rebuilt from the late 1980s through the efforts of Yuri Anua, and consecrated by Patriarch Ilia II in 1990. In July 1993 it was stormed and Anua and priest Andria Kurashvili were killed; in 2001 Abkhaz monks returned, and in 2011 the government transferred the monastery to the Abkhaz Orthodox Church.

The church carries the name of Saint John Chrysostom, whom local tradition holds found shelter here after his banishment from Constantinople. Visitors and faithful who come today honor him as an important protector of the region.

The monastery operates under the jurisdiction of the Abkhazian Orthodox Church, and access depends on current regional conditions. Visitors should check the local situation beforehand and show respect for the sacred space when visiting.

Yuri Anua, an Abkhaz layman, led the rebuilding of the church in the late 1980s; he was killed when the monastery was stormed in July 1993, alongside the Georgian priest Andria Kurashvili.