CULTURE
Of all the arts that have been developed
and practiced throughout Georgian history, none surpasses architecture
as an expression of the nation's artistic vision and heritage.
It is difficult to know whether this phenomenon is a direct result
of the Georgians affinity for and skill with stone, whether its
springs from certain edicts of Eastern Orthodoxy that inhibited
sculptural representation, or whether it evolved from a people's
need to build and rebuild monuments to their nation and their
faith in the face of ceaseless incursions and conquerors. Whatever
the underlying reason for such a magnificent 1,300-year tradition,
the traveler to Georgia cannot but be amazed at the degree of
artistry and creativity that gave birth to these treasures. The
vagaries of fate, or perhaps the conscious will of the divine,
have left us many times more ecclesiastic buildings than secular
ones by which to trace the flourishing of Georgian architectural
genius. Every indication suggests, however, that secular and ecclesiastical
buildings sprang from the same native roots and share many features
in common.
Georgian scholars generally agree that the famous cupola structures
that dominate Georgian ecclesiastic architecture can be traced
to domestic dwellings with circular floor plans that date as far
back as the fourth to third millennium BC. These dwellings ultimately
evolved into the darbazi structures that have survived into modern
times. Their significance lay in the transition of the square
substructure into a beehive dome.
Two major forms of ecclesiastic building developed in Georgia;
the central domed structure and the basilica. The basilica form
came to Georgia primarily through the influence of the Roman and
Hellenistic worlds. Its reformulation in Georgia was a blend of
Syrian influences as well as local traditions of construction
found in prefeudal secular structures: markets, country halls,
audience chambers. The basilica itself has two forms in Georgia.
The three-aisled basilica is without a transept and, shaped like
a hall, has middle and side naves of the same height covered by
a common gabled ceiling. The only surviving example is the Sioni
basilica at Bolnisi. Variations on this style that are contemporary
with Bolnisi or of a somewhat later date do exist but in not so
pure a form (Anchiskhati, Urbnisi). The second form, which evolved
out of the first in the late sixth century and exists only in
Georgia, is the triple-church basilica. This basilica is also
without a transept, but - unlike the three-aisled basilica in
which side naves are linked to the central nave by arcades - the
side naves are shut off from the central aisle by walls and access
is only through doors. Although all three aisles were barrel-vaulted,
they were cut off from one another, essentially creating three
"separate" churches. In addition, the middle room was
two to three times higher and wider than the side rooms. Kvemo
Bolnisi is an excellent sixth-century example and a higher degree
of refinement is evident at Nekresi in the seventh century.
The second form of building that appeared in Georgia in the early
feudal period and evolved into many complex variations was the
central domed structure. Domed churches had already achieved a
clearly individualized profile by the fifth century, although
no fourth-century examples survived. Devoid of a dominant main
axis, the central section was either square or hexagonal in shape.
(Later types such as the cross cupola churches developed from
these). The substructure acted as a base upon which the drum and
ultimately the cupola rested. The transition from the room shape
to the circular drum was achieved through the use of squinches.
Squinches are small arches that grow wider as they project in
concentric arches across the interior corners of a square or polygonal
room. In Georgia this technology reached a high degree of sophistication
early on. The pendentive is a kind of pandrel or triangular area
at the corners of a square or polygonal room used to achieve the
same effect as the squinch.
