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