# Barakoni Church
- URL: https://explore-georgia.ge/en/places/barakoni-church
- Type: place to visit
- Region: Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti
- Coordinates: 42.538889, 43.21

Barakoni stands in the village of Tsesi, beside the Ambrolauri–Oni road, on top of a steep cliff at whose foot the Lukhuni joins the Rioni. A church raised at the meeting of two rivers recalls Svetitskhoveli at Mtskheta, which is why people call it the little Svetitskhoveli. It is a monument of the late Middle Ages: in 1753 Rostom, eristavi of Racha (1750–1769), had it built by the master Avtandil Shulavreli, whose name is immortalised in the inscription of the east façade. Despite its date, Barakoni continues the old Georgian tradition of the domed church and is one of the last important buildings in that tradition.

The building is rectangular and has no annexes. The dome rests on the corners of the sanctuary and two free-standing pillars; the church is built almost entirely of well-cut stone brought from the village of Itsi, and the outside is richly covered with carving. Older elements show on the façades, the eastern niches being the most archaic, and the ornament follows tradition, though in the judgment of art historians the decoration lacks unity and is no longer organically tied to the architecture. The dome was once roofed in zinc and today carries a copper roof. Inside, the iconostasis is almost entirely covered with icons.

North-west of Barakoni stood a church of the early feudal age which Rati, son of Liparit, the first eristavi of Racha, built as his court church: a single-nave basilica of tuff with an alabaster iconostasis, of which only the foundation stones remain. The village cemetery lies in the yard. The Soviet authorities closed and desecrated the church, the Racha earthquake of 1991 damaged it slightly but it was quickly repaired, and today it is in use. Dubois de Montpéreux drew a bridge at Barakoni in the 1830s, and above Tsesi rises the Minda fortress, whose image appeared on the Soviet-era label of Barakoni wine.

## History

Tsesi is the old seat of the eristavis of Racha: here, north-west of Barakoni, Rati son of Liparit, the first eristavi of Racha, built a court church in the eleventh century, and above it on the cliff stood the Minda fortress, which commanded the valleys of the Lukhuni and the Rioni. In 1753 the eristavi Rostom, who had ruled Racha since 1750 and was known for his quarrel with King Solomon I of Imereti, had a new domed church built in place of the old one. The work was entrusted to the master Avtandil Shulavreli, whose name the building inscription of the east façade has preserved, a rare case for eighteenth-century Georgia in which the architect is named on the monument itself.

The church came through the abolition of the eristavate of Racha by Solomon I in 1769. In the nineteenth century Barakoni was a parish church, and in the 1830s the Swiss traveller Frédéric Dubois de Montpéreux sketched it. In the Soviet period the church was closed and desecrated, and the Racha earthquake of 29 April 1991 damaged it, though not seriously; after repair it is a working church.

## Visit info

Tsesi is 6 kilometres from Ambrolauri on the road to Oni: the church is visible from the road itself, on top of the cliff, and an asphalt lane climbs to the yard, where cars stop by the wall. The Ambrolauri–Oni marshrutka passes through Tsesi. The church is in use, open by day and free to enter; the dress code is strict. From the yard the confluence of the Lukhuni and the Rioni and the cliff of the Minda fortress come into view; half an hour is enough for the visit, and the steep forest climb to the Minda fortress needs time of its own.

## Tips

The church looks finest from the Oni side, from the bridge over the Rioni, with the cliff, the church and the two rivers in one frame; the evening light does not reach the east façade, so photograph the inscribed east façade in the morning. By the entrance look for the inscription of Avtandil Shulavreli and the old eastern niches. Barakoni combines in a day with Nikortsminda, Shaori and the Oni synagogue; the Racha wine Khvanchkara is poured in the cellars of Ambrolauri.

## Safety

The yard sits on the edge of a steep cliff and the railing does not run everywhere: hold the children by the hand and keep away from the edge in rain. This is a working church: avoid photography and noise during services. The path to the Minda fortress is steep and loses itself in the forest, so sturdy shoes and a companion are needed.

## Sources

- [Barakoni — Georgian Wikipedia](https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/ბარაკონი)
- [Barakoni — English Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barakoni)
- [Barakoni — Russian Wikipedia](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Баракони)
- [Barakoni Church — georgia.travel](https://georgia.travel/barakoni-church)
- [Barakoni — Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q807239)

## This page in other languages

- [ქართული](https://explore-georgia.ge/ka/adgilebi/barakonis-ghvtismshoblis-tadzari)
- [Русский](https://explore-georgia.ge/ru/mesta/khram-barakoni)