Shatberdi

 church, ruins, monastery

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It whad been thought that Shatberdi Monastery was lost. Despite being a highly important scriptorium mentioned in the Life of Grigol Khandzteli by Giorgi Merchule, neither N. Marr nor the next generation of scholars succeeded in localising the monastery. It was traced by the Turkish scholar Mine Kadiroğlu towards the end of the 20th century.

Local toponyms such as Sharbeti (the name given by the locals to the site of the church), Agara (the village below), Boselta (the field near the church site) and Korushkana (a barley field, a site in the valley, also referred to as Geyishana) attest that Shatberdi supported Kandzta with its arable lands and served as a major centre of farming.

Ruins of a large cross-domed church with an oblong west cross-arm have preserved. The walls survive only in fragments. Most of them are buried in earth, yet what remains visible allows to assume that the church was fairly large and was built of square blocks, as were Opiza and other churches of the time.

Walls of large monastic buildings made of huge square stone survive to the south of the church.

There is a spring in the forest. The monastery is overlooked by Boselta Fortress.