Katskhi Church served at different times as the familial church and burial site for various feudal houses. It was constructed by the Bagvashes at the turn of the 10th–11th centuries. The main part of the building was started after Rati Bagvashi, expelled by King Bagrat III from Kldekari, returned to his estate in Argveti, Western Georgia, at the end of the 10th century. Construction was completed at the end of Bagrat’s reign — between 1010 and 1014.

Did you know that…

1. After the defeat and exile of the Bagvashi family by David IV the Builder, Katskhi Church was left without a patron. According to tradition, it was burned twice but was rebuilt each time.

2. In the 16th century, the abandoned and damaged church was restored by its new owner, Abulasar Amirejibi. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Katskhi belonged to the Abashidze family. In 1804, King Solomon II granted Katskhi to Solomon Lionidze, who had moved to Imereti and was a notable political figure and associate of Erekle II.

3. In 1924, the Soviet government of Georgia abolished the Katskhi Monastery, which caused the cessation of religious services for a long period. Services resumed only in 1990 under the leadership of the church’s priest, Deacon Amiran Modebadze.

4. According to tradition, Katskhi Monastery was a center of manuscript copying and had a rich library. Among other books, it housed the Gospel of Matthew translated and donated by Liparit Bagvashi, as well as a fully bound and leather-covered Gospel translated by Ekvtime Atoneli.