Ateni Sioni Church

Ateni Sioni Monastery is located on the banks of the Tana River, in the village of Ateni. The temple was built in the VII century, there are preserved unique frescoes from the “Golden Age”. Ateni Sioni attracts with its architecture and surrounding picturesque nature.

The church was part of the buildings in the Tana gorge. There were other monasteries and castles in the gorge. Today those magnificent monasteries and castles are in ruins, and only the Ateni Sioni monastery and Didi-Ateni castle have been preserved.  The monastery complex includes the church of Orbeliani of IX century, the church of Tsminda Giorgi of XI century and the fortress Atenis-tsikhe.

In its architecture, the temple resembles the monastery of Jvari located in Mtskheta town. The temple of Jvari was built earlier, and after Ateni Sioni, “the copy of Jvari” was built . The exterior walls of the temple are decorated with frescoes of the XI century. There are also inscriptions in the ancient written language of the hutsuri on the walls.

The temple was repeatedly attacked and destroyed. However, there are preserved ornaments on the facade and images of saints on the walls of the temple.

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