Zarzma Monastery

Zarzma Monastery

Zarzma Transfiguration Monastery is a medieval Orthodox Christian monastery situated in Zarzma village in south-western Georgia. It is located 30 km west of the city of Akhaltsikhe, in the forested valley of the Kvabliani River and its tributary, the Dzindze River, in the municipality of Adigeni. The complex of buildings is characterized by a domed church and a bell tower, which is one of the largest in Georgia. The first church on the site was probably built in the eighth century, or in the sixth or seventh century by the monk Serapion of Zarzma, whose life is narrated in the hagiography of Serapion's disciple Basil of Zarzma. According to his sources, the great aristocrat Giorgi Charkhaneli donated to the monastery a large sum of money, along with villages and lands. However, the existing building dates back to the early years of the 14th century. Beka I, Prince of Samtskhe and Lord High Mandator of Georgia of the Jaqeli family, sponsored its construction. What has been preserved from the former monastery is the Georgian inscription from the end of the 10th century, inserted in the entrance arch of the chapel. The inscription talks about the military help that the Georgian nobles gave to the Byzantine Emperor Basil II against the uprising of the general Bardas Sclerus in the year 979. The new patrons renovated the monastery in 1544. In the year 1577 they also rebuilt the bell tower, which was turned into a church. After the Turks conquered the region at the end of the sixteenth century, the monasteries were deserted and neglected until the end of the nineteenth century. At present, the monastery is a place of pilgrimage and tourism, as well as housing a community of Georgian monks.