Church of Theotokos of Vale

The Church of the Theotokos of Vale (Georgian: ვალეს ღვთისმშობლის ეკლესია, vales ghvtismshoblis eklesia) is a medieval Georgian Orthodox church at the town of Vale in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region in the south of Georgia, built in honor of the Theotokos (St. Mary).

The Church of the Theotokos of Vale

The extant edifice is a 16th-century monument, a three-nave basilica, a result of remodeling of an earlier, late-10th-century domed church, of which parts of lavish decor such as relief sculptures of laymen, clergy, and equestrian saints as well as cornices and window frames survive. A bell-tower on the roof is an 18th or 19th-century addition. A 16th-century Georgian inscription in asomtavruli script reveals that the church was built de novo by Dedisimedi, princess-consort of the Principality of Samtskhe, of which Vale was part.[1][2]

References

1. Tumanishvili, Dimitri; et al. (2010). Monuments of Georgia's Cultural Heritage. Tbilisi: National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia. p. 245. ISBN 978-9941-0-2725-3.
2. Mamistvalishvili, Eldar (2009). ""პატრონობდა დედისიმედი სამცხეს" (XVI ს-ის სამცხე-საათაბაგოს ისტორიიდან)" ["Dedisimedi patronized Samtskhe" (From the 16th-century history of Samtskhe-Saatabago)] (PDF). Proceedings of the Institute of Georgian History (in Georgian and English). IX: 105–111.