Pitareti Monastery was founded during the reign of King George IV, also known as Lasha-Giorgi (1213-1222), son of the celebrated Queen Tamar. It is set among the mountains in a picturesque ravine, 25 km south-west of the town of Tetritsqaro in Kvemo Kartli Province. The monastic complex comprises the Church of the Mother of God, a bell tower, the ruins of subsidiary buildings, and a circuit wall.
Pitareti Church viewed from the South
In the first decades of the thirteenth century, Georgian architects produced a surge of finely decorated domed churches that share a number of salient characteristics. Pitareti Church is one of the most impressive among them. It has a cross-in-square plan, with a dome resting on the corners of the apse walls to the east and two octagonal piers to the west. Plain pendentives serve to transition from the square central bay to the circular base of the dome.
The dome of Pitareti Church
Pitareti Church possesses a rich exterior decoration that is distinguished for its elegance and precision. The attenuated proportions of the drum are emphasised by tall and narrow windows that are cut into each of its twelve arched facets. The abundantly adorned convex frames of the windows fill the entire space within the arches, leaving no surface undecorated. They demonstrate that by the early thirteenth century, stone-carved ornamentation had reached new heights of elaboration, displaying a wide variety of floral and geometric motifs.
Images of a cross and lions on the Southern façade
The southern façade also features two sculptures of lions symmetrically placed on either side of a large cross. Diminutive sculptural images of saints, animals, and birds are included in the ornate window frames.
The façades of the church are faced with fine ashlar, while the interior facing is coarser since it was intended to be plastered and painted. Some of the murals preserved inside the church are contemporary with its construction, while others date from the late Middle Ages.
Interior view
A three-storied bell tower is set into the circuit wall. Its lower story serves as the main entrance to the monastic courtyard, the middle story contains a small chamber, while the upper story is the belfry itself.
The bell tower of Pitareti Monastery
In the late Middle Ages, Pitareti Monatery belonged to the local noble Baratashvili family. Several members of the family are buried in the church. In the eighteenth century, the monastery was abandoned as a result of relentless devastating raids by tribes from the Northern Caucasus.
