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ERTATSMINDA

ERTATSMINDA - The architecture of Ertatsminda Church dates from the mid-thirteenth century. It is built of large carefully hewn blocks of yellow sandstone. The building has an inscribed-cross plan, with its dome resting on the corners of the apse wall projections to the east and two piers to the west. Pendentives serve to transition from the square central bay to the circular base of the dome. The Church of St. Eustace stands in the middle of the village of Ertatsminda, within a large courtyard that is encircled by a stone wall. The toponym Ertatsminda derives from Estatetsminda, which in Georgian means St. Eustace. The exterior of the church is richly decorated. All four façades feature framed double windows with large crosses between them, all of which are adorned with stone-carved ornaments.