Matskhvarishi Church, Latali

Latali is a Svan community strung along the Enguri valley a short drive west of Mestia, with stone towers standing among its houses and hay meadows. At its western end, on a hilltop above the hamlet of Matskhvarishi at about 1,360 m, stands the Church of the Saviour, known locally by its Svan name, Matskhvar. It is a plain hall church of neatly cut limestone blocks, with a gallery on the south side that was rebuilt in 1986. The south door is a rare survival of carved woodwork from the 10th or 11th century, which an inscription credits to a man called Kvirike Agiduliani.

The painting is the draw. An inscription dates it to 1140 and names the artist, Mikael Maglakeli, and it covers the whole interior, though much is damaged. Look for a Deesis in the sanctuary, a row of apostles, scenes from the life of Christ and a line of mounted saints with haloes. On the north wall, a coronation scene shows King Demetre I, who reigned from 1125 to 1156, blessed by Christ, crowned by the Archangel Gabriel and girded with a sword by two local lords. Svan churches are often locked, so ask locally for the keyholder.

The frescoes were finished in 1140, in the reign of Demetre I, son of David the Builder, and historians read the coronation scene as praise of royal power that also gives a place of honour to the local Svan nobility. In the 19th century Latali lay in Free Svaneti, the part of the upper valley with no ruling prince. In 1910 the scholar Ekvtime Takaishvili recorded a collection of Byzantine and Georgian church treasures kept in the building during his Svaneti expedition. The church is listed as a monument of national significance.