The monastery of Akhali Shuamta

The monastery of Akhali Shuamta was established by Queen Tinatin, wife of King Levan of Kakheti, in the 1540s and is located in Kakheti Region. The church at Akhali Shuamta is built on the cross-in-square plan that had become standard for Georgian domed churches from the mid-eleventh century onward. It is built entirely of brick. Soon after the church's completion, its interior was richly decorated with murals. The murals, preserved in large fragments, are among the best examples of the sixteenth-century art of Georgia. Music by Ensemble Lashari