Dolishane (Doliskana) Monastery and Church

Dolishane (Doliskana) Monastery and Church

Doliskana Monastery is a Georgian Orthodox monastery located in the village of Doliskana in the Klarceti region of historical Georgia. To reach the monastery today, one must drive 3 kilometers along the Şavşat-Artvin highway and reach Hamamlı Village.

While the monastery is widely known as the Dolishane Monastery in Turkey, its correct name, based on the Georgian word for wheat-field "doli," is actually Doliskana. The monastery was established in the 830-840s, but it is not mentioned by name until Giorgi Merchule's report. According to his account, it is possible that Doliskana Monastery became an official monastery after him, although there are conflicting records.

One theory suggests that the monastery was founded in the first half of the 10th century when a church was built. Unfortunately, almost all the buildings of the monastery, except for the main church, have been destroyed. There are also two different views regarding the church's dedication - either to the "Archangels" or to St. Stefan.

Dolishane (Doliskana) Monastery and Church

The Doliskana Church is the main church of the Doliskana Monastery and is the only remaining structure from the monastery. Built in the 10th century, the domed and covered crucifix church measures 20 X 14 meters from the outside. Inscriptions on the southern façade indicate that it was built by Bagrat in the first half of the 10th century and later restored by Sumbat I of Georgia.

The central area of the church has a square plan and four extended cross arms. The space covered by the dome is approximately 25 meters high at the center. On the eastern side of the church, pastophorium rooms are located on either side of a semicircular apse. The entrance to these rooms is through a door that opens from the outside of the eastern walls, rather than from the inside. The western arm was set into the ground two times deeper than the other arms. The northern chamber of the western arm, which was likely used for wine storage or as a cellar, contained soil. The church features cut and rough exterior stones, with rubble stones on the inside, and has figurative, geometric, and floral decorations made in relief technique on the southern wall. Some paintings have also survived.

A relief on the south wall depicts a male figure holding a model of the church. At one point, there was also a "Sundial" relief on the southern cross arm of the church, but it was later stolen. Despite this, the main part of the church, which is used as a place of worship and/or center of community activity, is mostly intact and was used as a mosque until 1998.