Church of the Virgin Mary of Vale
Church of the Virgin Mary of Vale (Church of the Theotokos of Vale), a church dating from the last quarter of the 10th century, located in the town of Vale, in historical Samtskhe.
Originally, it was a domed structure, but in the 16th century, it was remodeled into a three-nave basilica. From the original church, the richly decorated door and window frames have been preserved.
Above the central window on the eastern façade is a relief of the Virgin Mary with the Child, and below them are the figures of an archangel and a woman, both accompanied by Asomtavruli (early Georgian script) inscriptions: “Gabriel the Messenger”, “Holy Mother of God, have mercy on lamb.”
On the southern façade, on both sides of the entrance, there are paired half-columns supporting an arch. On the capital of the right-hand half-columns, there was once a four-line inscription in Asomtavruli (one of the Georgian scripts), of which only a fragment is legible: “... the water of Gueraisdze ...”.
On the tympanum of the same façade’s doorway, there is a large depiction of Christ, with small figures of apostles on both sides, each accompanied by inscriptions: “Paul, Apostle Peter...”.
Above the western entrance, horsemen are depicted.
Inside the church, on the diaconicon tympanum, there is a relief of a cross with a two-line Asomtavruli inscription: “O Pillar of Life, I, the sinful Simeon, am the maker of this precious cross.”
On the pillars of the church, Asomtavruli and Mkhedruli inscriptions are preserved, dating from the period of the church’s reconstruction.
An inscription from 1561–64 mentions Dedisimedi, the granddaughter of the King of Kings of the Georgians, Constantine, the daughter of King Bagrat, and the daughter-in-law of the Atabeg-Amirspasalar family. It tells about her contribution in the rebuilding of the Church of the Virgin of Vale.
Also mentioned are her husband, Atabeg Kaikhosro, their children — Qvarqvare, Mzechabuk, Manuchar, Tvalshvenieri, Ivane, and Tamar, and Dedisimedi’s brothers — Heraclius, Ashotan, and Theodora.
In inscriptions from 1561–72, Qvarqvare and Mzechabuk are already mentioned separately.
To the east of the church, there lies a stone-carved cross on a round pillar. Its Asomtavruli inscription read: “Christ, glorify the soul of Patri... [and] his children... Saint George.”
The cross was brought from another location and placed here later.
Sources: გურჯისტანის ვილაიეთის დიდი დავთარი, წგ. 2, ს. ჯიქიას გამოც., თბ., 1941; ლაპიდარული წარწერები, I, ნ. შოშიაშვილის გამოც., თბ., 1980.
Literature: ზ ა ზ ა ძ ე ელ., გადმოცემები წმინდა გიორგიზე სამცხე-ჯავახეთში, «მესხეთი», II, ახალციხე, 1998; სილოგავა ვ., სამხრეთ საქართველოს წარწერების შესწავლა..., კრ.: მრავალთავი. ფილოლოგიურ-ისტორიული ძიებანი, [ტ.] 10, თბ., 1983.
D. Berdzenishvili
