Kvirike Mosque

The Kvirike mosque (Georgian: კვირიკეს ჯამე, romanized: k'virik'es jame) is a congregational mosque in Adjara, an autonomous entity in southwest Georgia. It is one of the oldest surviving mosques in Adjara, dated to 1861. The building is abundantly adorned with decorative wooden carvings.[1] The mosque is inscribed on the list of the Immovable Cultural Monuments of National Significance of Georgia.[2]

Kvirike mosque
კვირიკეს ჯამე
Location in Georgia
Coordinates41.766072°N 41.838366°E / 41.766072; 41.838366 (Kvirike)
LocationKvirike, Kobuleti Municipality,
Adjara, Georgia
TypeMosque

The Kvirike mosque stands in the center of the eponymous village in Adjara's coastal Kobuleti Municipality. It was built by a Laz craftsman from Arhavi in AH 1277 (1860/1861), when the area was part of the Ottoman Empire. Like other early mosques in Adjara, Kvirike's layout blends the Ottoman influences with vernacular architectural elements of local Georgian villages. The mosque had a minaret and madrasa, both demolished by the Soviet authorities in the 1920s. Both external and internal walls as well as the mihrab, minbar, columns, and balcony, bear original elaborate incised woodwork. The mosque does not have a full dome but a recess with an inset carved medallion. The mosque was renovated in 2013 and is functional, reserved for Friday or holiday services.[1]

References
  1. Harris-Brandts, Suzanne; Wheeler, Angela; Shioshvili, Vladimer (2018). The wooden mosques of Adjara: Islamic architectural heritage in Georgia (PDF). p. 154.
  2. "List of Immovable Cultural Monuments" (PDF) (in Georgian). National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation of Georgia. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
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