# Church of St. John the Baptist, Ofreti
- URL: https://explore-georgia.ge/en/places/church-of-st-john-the-baptist-ofreti
- Type: place to visit
- Region: Kvemo Kartli
- Coordinates: 41.249192, 44.632861

## 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](https://explore-georgia.ge/en/kvemo-kartli/marneuli-municipality/opreti) 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)](https://www.facebook.com/1stchannel.1tv.ge/videos/1766702797703902/)
- [Google Maps: location of the church](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=41.249192,44.632861)
- Georgian Soviet Encyclopedia, vol. 7, Tbilisi, 1984, p. 608
- [Wikipedia (KA): Ofreti](https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/ოფრეთი)
- [Wikipedia (KA): Ofreti Fortress](https://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/ოფრეთის_ციხე)
- [Wikipedia (RU): Opreti](https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Опрети)

## This page in other languages

- [Georgian](https://explore-georgia.ge/ka/adgilebi/ofretis-ioane-natlismtsemlis-eklesia)
- [Russian](https://explore-georgia.ge/ru/mesta/cerkov-svyatogo-ioanna-krestitelya-v-ofreti)