Agara Monastery

Agara monastery is a monument of Georgian architecture in historical Meskheti in the Uraveli River valley (Akhaltsikhe municipality).

It is built on the mountain slope. The main church (10-11^th century) is one of the biggest and best examples of single-naved churches in Georgia. The big and impressive internal space is created by the elegant interior wall-works and the union of the altar’s arch and conch. The oldest building of the monastery is a single-naved church, which is part of a three-church basilica located northwest of the main temple. By the type of masonry and considering the elements that went into its construction (C-shaped arches, the architrave on the door) we can assume that this building belongs to the early feudal era. On the territory of the monastery, there are remains of refectory (11^th-12^th century), belltower (13^th-14^th century), and ruins of other buildings.

Literature:  ბერიძე ვ., სამცხის ხუროთმოძღვრული ძეგლები, თბ., 1970; მარსაგიშვილი გ., აგარის მონასტრის უძველესი ეკლესია, «ძეგლის მეგობარი», 1982, № 60; Чубинашвили Н. Г., Церовани. Храмы сводчатой архитектуры с конструктивно-декоративными нишами на восточном фасаде, Тб., 1976.