THE MONASTERY of DÖRT KİLİSE (OKHTA ECCLESIA)

The monastery of Dört Kilise is about 15 kilometres from Yusufeli. To find it follow the Çoruh Valley upstream in the direction of Ispir until you come to the village of Tekkale. From there it is only 7 kilometres to the monastery which is hidden high in the valley of a small tributary of the Çoruh. The monastic buildings are surrounded by lush fields of clover and fruit trees grown wild. It would be hard to imagine a more idyllic or secluded spot.

Dört Kilise was first mentioned in a manuscript dating back to 1031 in relation to the lives of St John and St Euthemios. According to this manuscript, the church was completed before 965, but there appears to have been a second phase of construction and embellishment during the reign of David Magistros. When Magistros died in 1001, and the principality of Tao-Klarjeti passed peacefully into Byzantine hands. In this respect, it is significant that an inscription on the eastern façade refers to this indefatigable builder as Curopalates, a Byzantine court title that was bestowed on him in 978 by the Emperor Basil II.

The main church is distinguished by its elegance and restraint, and apart from some damage to its exterior facing stones, is remarkably well-preserved. The exterior is decorated with blind-arcading in two registers, the arches of the lower arcades springing from pilasters and those of the upper arcades being carried on paired colonnettes. It has a simple, basilical plan consisting of a broad nave flanked by two narrower aisles, all of them roofed by barrel vaults. The nave, as is customary, rises considerably above the aisles. The church is 28.46 metres long, 22.07 metres wide and 22.07 metres high, dimensions that produce a very harmonious effect. The vault of the nave is carried on five pairs of piers. The western faces of the easternmost piers are adorned with large, gabled niches that were probably designed to accommodate icons. This is a feature that is also found in Barhal. At the western end of the nave is a triple-arched gallery, but it is in the eastern apse that, as one might expect, the whole ensemble reaches its climax. The semi-dome is bare, but below it there are five registers of frescoes, beginning at the top with an image of Christ in Majesty formed by a somewhat faded, blue mandorta. Below this two angels uphold a throne from which rises a cross surmounted by a dove. An enthroned Virgin attended by angels dominates the third register, while the window is flanked by bishops and prophets in serried ranks. The window soffet is occupied by an enigmatic female figure holding a model of the church and encircled by lilies. She is thought to be a personification of Heavenly Jerusalem.

To the west of the church lie the scriptorium and the refectory. The latter measures 13 by 20.80 metres and is divided into two barrel vaulted naves by an arcade of broad arches carried on four cruciform piers. The larger of the two chapels lies a short distance to the south-east of the main church and has a single barrel-vaulted nave (now ruined) that ends in an apse with a one-tier synthronon. Opening off the refectory is the scriptorium which measures 17 by 5.5 metres. This shows that Dört Kilise like many other monasteries in the region was a very important centre of learning and culture.