Gantiadi Church


The Gantiadi Church or Tsandripshi Church is a 6th-century three-apse basilica, located in the settlement of Gantiadi in Abkhazia, a disputed region of Georgia.

History

The church was built in 543 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I when Abazg tribes had been Christianized.
The church building was altered several times in 8th–10th centuries. In 1576 it was partly destroyed by Ottoman invaders. It is one of the oldest Christian temples in the Western Caucasus. Nowadays only the ruins of the basilica are left standing.
In the ruins of the basilica a fragment of a tombstone bearing a Greek uncial inscription was found. It seems most likely that the inscription belonged to the tomb of a clerical or secular dignitary of Abkhazia. The name of the person interred is lost. The inscription is dated to the 6th century. The church is a three-nave basilica, built of medium-size limestone ashlar masonry of regular shape, and flat bricks of varied sizes.
The Gantiadi Church has been designated a monument of national significance.

Literature