Church of St. John the Baptist, Ofreti
Marneuli Municipality › Kvemo Kartli
A small single-nave stone church in the centre of Ofreti village, Marneuli Municipality, with a spring flowing from beneath its foundation and a stone relief of the Baptism of Christ at the base of the chancel screen.
Church of St. John the Baptist, Ofreti — About
About the church
The Church of St. John the Baptist in Ofreti, also known as the Church of the Baptism, stands in Kvemo Kartli, in the village of Ofreti in Marneuli Municipality. The village lies on the northern slope of the Loki Range in the upper Shulaveri River valley, at about 1,040–1,070 m above sea level, close to the Georgia–Armenia border.
Architecture
The church is a small single-nave (hall) building. Its walls are of roughly dressed stone, and the corners are laid with larger dressed blocks. The gabled roof now has a modern red covering. The windows are small and arched, and the entrance is in a long side wall. The church sits at the foot of a slope on a stone retaining wall, close to the road.
The spring and the Baptism relief
A spring flows from beneath the church's foundation. Inside, at the base of the chancel screen, a stone relief of the Baptism of Christ shows Christ and St. John standing in water, the scene the church is named after. In recent years the church has become a popular destination for pilgrims and travellers.
Nearby
Southeast of the village, in the upper Shulaveri valley, stands the early medieval Ofreti Fortress. It is enclosed by a wall with round towers and today lies on the territory of Armenia.
Sources
First Channel (GPB): an old church with a spring rising from its foundation (video, in Georgian)
Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 7, Tbilisi, 1984, p. 608
Visit info
Entry: free.
Dress code: Orthodox church etiquette — women cover their heads and wear skirts, men wear long trousers.