Davati Virgin Mary Church
Davati Virgin Mary Church is located southeast of the village of Davati (Dusheti Municipality), at an altitude of approximately 300 m, on the top of a mountain.
The monument was built of more or less straight rows of cobblestones. The church has two naves. From the south (along the entire length) it is adjoined by a narrow eukterion.
The main and northern naves of the church are connected by two wide and high arches and form a single space. The only door of the church was cut into the western wall of the eukterion. Later, a small chapel was built on the western side of the church, and then a monastic cell with a vaulted crypt, which covered the original entrance to the church. Therefore, a new door was placed in the southern wall of the eukterion, which was renovated at that time.
In the 14th–15th centuries, a two-story tower was added to the southern wall of the eukterion and its first floor served as the church gate.
R. Ramishvili, who led the archaeological excavations of the church in 1985–1988, dates the Davati Virgin Mary Church to the second half of the 6th century and attributes it to the type of three-nave basilicas common in Kakheti at that time. In his opinion, one part of the stone columns is of the Bolnisi Sioni type, and the other part is of an earlier period.
Literature: რ ა მ ი შ ვ ი ლ ი რ., არქეოლოგიური კვლევა-ძიება არაგვის ხეობაში, «მნათობი », 1986, № 8; საქართველოს ისტორიისა და კულტურის ძეგლთა აღწერილობა, ტ. 2, თბ., 2004.
T. Dvali
K. Machabeli
