After many years, along with other historic exhibits, visitors of the Shalva Amiranashvili State Museum of Art (located at #1 Lado Gudiashvili Street in Tbilisi) have a rare opportunity to see the unique Satkhe Monastery Iconostasis in the permanent exhibition of the Museum.
Satkhe Monastery (VIII-XI centuries) located in Georgia’s Bolnisi Municipality, Kazreti District, is distinguished by its unique carvings, impressive stone decor, wall painting (which is no longer readable), and an iconostasis, which is included in the treasure fund of a Georgian historian, archaeologist and public benefactor Ekvtime Takaishvili.
Notably, many years ago, Ekvtime Takaishvili himself took the iconostasis from Satkhe monastery, which was abandoned and doomed to destruction, and handed it over to the Society for the Spreading of Literacy among Georgians to protect it, after which it was transferred to the Art Museum.
At that time the iconostasis was missing one fragment, which Ekvtime Takaishvili hoped to find.
Satkhe Iconostasis is almost the only surviving monument that gives us an idea of the decorations and forms of iconostasis typical of that era.
In the spring of 2016, the members of the local NGO “Sakdrisi Committee” followed the path of Ekvtime and discovered the Satkhe Monastery in the forest, covered in bushes and trees.
From that day, a two-year struggle to save the monument began. As a result, in the spring of 2018, the rehabilitation works of the Satkhe Monastery were launched.
In the very first days, during the cleaning works, a missing fragment of the iconostasis was discovered, which made the age of this unique iconostasis even older. It was specified that the iconostasis of Satkhe was made not during the reign of King Lasha-George, but during the reign of Queen Tamar’s father – King George III and dates back to 1169.
This discovery made an important historical revolution – not only was the date of creation of the iconostasis confirmed but also the dates of creation of similar iconostasis were changed.
The full-scale rehabilitation process of the Satkhe monastery complex was carried out by the joint initiative of the National Agency for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Georgia and the members of the “Sakdrisi Committee”. The project was organized by the agency and financed by the company “RMG GOLD” and it was carried out based on the agreement signed between the 4 dioceses of the Patriarchate of Georgia, the National Agency for the Protection of Cultural Heritage and the company “RMG”.
The current situation of the Satkhe Monastery (VIII-XI centuries) is alarming and requires an immediate response, in particular, the rehabilitation and conservation works, which were carried out on the monument between 2018-2020 by the “Sakdrisi Committee” initiative, should be continued immediately. The works were suspended in 2020. Without continuing the rehabilitation works on the monastery, it will not be possible to preserve the monument for a long time due to frequent earthquakes and natural precipitation, which makes its already difficult situation even worse.
Once the reconstruction and restoration are completed, the iconostasis must be returned to Bolnisi, Satkhe Monastery, where it belongs, claim the activists of the Sakdrisi Committee.
“The Sakdrisi Committee wished that the Satkhe iconostasis be transferred from the Museum of Art to Bolnisi in parallel with the full restoration of the monastery, which became possible after the opening of a new Museum of Local Lore in Bolnisi in spring 2020, one of the best in Europe,” they note.
