Mokvi Cathedral

Mokvi Cathedral მოქვის ეკლესია
Mokvi Cathedral
Shown within Georgia (country)
Basic information
Location	Mokvi, Ochamchira district,  Georgia/ Abkhazia
Geographic coordinates	42°50′06″N 41°30′28″E / 42.835°N 41.507778°E / 42.835; 41.507778Coordinates: 42°50′06″N 41°30′28″E / 42.835°N 41.507778°E / 42.835; 41.507778
Affiliation	Georgian Orthodox Church
District	Ochamchira District
Region	Caucasus
Country	Georgia
Architectural description
Architectural style	Georgian; Cathedral
Completed	10th century during the reign of King Leon III of Abkhazia
Dome(s)	1

Mokvi Cathedral (Georgian: მოქვის ეკლესია) is a Georgian Orthodox Cathedral located in Mokvi, in the Ochamchira district of the de facto independent Republic of Abkhazia, internationally recognized to constitute a part of Georgia.

Mokvi Cathedral consists of five naves, built in the third quarter of the 10th century, during the reign of king Leon III of Abkhazia. According to a non-extant inscription (found by Patriarch Dositheos II of Jerusalem who visited Mokvi in 1659) the church was painted during the reign of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and David IV of Georgia. In the Catholicate of Abkhazia Mokvi was the seat of a Bishop at least until the 17th century.

Over the centuries, Mokvi was a significant centre of the Georgian culture, where manuscripts were copied and old codices were renovated. Up to now preserved are manuscripts from the Mokvi church library, bearing names of the persons active in Mokvi. Among Mokvi antiquities of special significance and artistic value is the famous Mokvi Four Gospels, commissioned by Daniel Mokveli (Bishop of Mokvi) in 1300. Mokvi church, the centre of such a vast cultural activity, was also rich in epigraphic monuments. However, at present, only an inscription on Mokvi bell-tower is preserved.

Mokvi Episcopacy was established in the 10th c., but Mokvi, as one of the most significant centre of the Georgian culture, experienced special efflorescence from the 13th c. onwards. Georgian literary sources have preserved names of the bishops of Mokvi, whose contribution to the Georgian culture is hard to undervalue, such as Grigol Mokveli, Daniel Mokveli, Abraam Mokveli, Eptvime Sakvarelidze, Pilipe Chkhetidze and others.