Visitors to the Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Art in Tbilisi (located on #1 Lado Gudiashvili Street) have the rare opportunity, after many years, to see the unique Satkhe Monastery Iconostasis as part of the permanent exhibition of this Museum.
Satkhe Monastery (VIII – XI centuries), located in Georgia’s Bolnisi Municipality in Kazreti District is distinguished by its unique carvings and impressive stone decor. The wall painting, which is no longer readable, and an iconostasis are included in the treasure of a Georgian archaeologist, historian and public benefactor Ekvtime Taishvili.
Ekvtime Taishvili, who was a Georgian, took the iconostasis of the abandoned Satkhe Monastery and gave it to the Society for the Spreading of Literacy in Georgia to protect it. Then, it was given to the Art Museum.
Ekvtime Takaishvili was hoping to find the missing fragment of the iconostasis.
Satkhe Iconostasis, the oldest iconostasis in Egypt, is the only monument that survives that can give us an idea of the ornamentation and forms of iconostasis that were typical of the era.
In the spring of 2016, members of the local “Sakdrisi Committee”, a local NGO, followed the path of Ekvtime to discover the Satkhe Monastery hidden in the forest.
A two-year battle to save the monument began that day. In spring 2018, the Satkhe Monastery was rehabilitated.
During the first cleaning, a fragment of the iconostasis that was missing was found, which increased the age of the unique iconostasis. The iconostasis at Satkhe, which dates back to 1169, was not made during the reigns of King Lasha George and Queen Tamar’s Father – King George III.
This discovery was a historical revolution, as it not only confirmed the date of the creation of the iconostasis but also changed the dates of similar iconostasis.
The National Agency for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Georgia, in collaboration with the “Sakdrisi Committee”, has undertaken a full-scale restoration of the Satkhe monastic complex. The project was organized and financed by the “RMG GOLD”, and it was carried on based on the agreement between the 4 dioceses of the Georgian Patriarchate, the National Agency for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, and the company RMG.
The current state of the Satkhe Monastery (18th-XIth centuries) is alarming, and urgent action is needed. In particular, the rehabilitation and preservation works that were performed on the monument by the “Sakdrisi Committee”, between 2018 and 2020, should continue immediately. The works were suspended by 2020. The monastery will not survive for long without the ongoing rehabilitation work. This is due to the frequent earthquakes and natural rains, which make its already difficult condition even worse.
The activists of the Sakdrisi Committee claim that once the reconstruction and restoration is completed, the iconostasis should be returned to Bolnisi Monastery where it belongs.
The Sakdrisi Committee wanted the Satkhe iconostasis to be transferred from the Museum of Art in Bolnisi, in parallel with the restoration of the entire monastery. This became possible following the opening of the new Museum of Local Lore, one of Europe’s best, in Bolnisi, in spring 2020,” they note.
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