Zeda Tkhilvana

ZEDA TKHILVANA VILLAGE MOSQUE

Located at the very end of one of Khulo district’s deepest valleys, Zeda Tkhilvana mosque is among the most remote in the region. Corrugated siding to protect it from the elements has kept it in good repair and a thorough interior repainting has refreshed the prayer hall. All other decoration, however, is fairly sparse: the only decorative carving appears on the simple columns and a latticework minbar crown in the form of a wheel. Paintings, if there were any, have since been covered in solid colors. The small dome, for example, has been painted over in solid yellow. The most unusual aspect of the site is not the mosque itself but its ablutions fountain, located in a separate octagonal building. The stone fountain bears the date 1935, suggesting its original function as a public spring water fountain installed as part of early Soviet efforts to expand infrastructure in isolated villages. As its proximity to the mosque makes it ideal for ablutions, villagers have since enclosed the fountain to enable year-round use. Locals also added a madrasa nearby in the 1990s. The presence of painted numbers on many of the madrasa’s wooden boards (“b3, b4, b5”; in Georgian ხ3, ხ4, ხ5) indicates that villagers took apart and then reassembled an older building nearer to the mosque. This method of architectural re-purposing enables remote villages like Zeda Tkhilvana to create new buildings in a climate with scarce resources.    

DISTRICT : Khulo
LOCATION :  41°33’27.9”N 42°30’41.9”E
POPULATION : 293
CONSTRUCTION DATE : 1880-1900  
RENOVATION DATE(S) : 1990s
CRAFTSMEN : unknown  
MINARET : Yes