Abstract
The temple represents the remains of the walls of the rectangular building with the semicircular apse. The external dimensions of the temple are as following: the width is about 11 m, the length with the porch – 13 m. The width of the main hall is 4,2 m, the length together with the apse – 8,4 m. Differently sized separate rooms adjoined to the main nave from the South and the North. The Northern outbuilding is shorter than the South one and the South outbuilding is equal to the length of the temple. The walls of the temple and the outbuildings are badly damaged. A classic open porch with stone benches along the North and South walls is attached to the temple from the West. The temple and its various outbuildings were built by bout with double-sided coating made of limestone blocks and slabs. The stone benches are preserved inside the temple along its perimeter. At the entrance to the porch archaeologists had found a massive block in the shape of a pentahedron with a counter – relief image of the cross. Archaeological work (it is still incomplete) revealed that the temple suffered from the fi re at least twice. At the fi rst fi re the burnt layer of the porch was two centimeters. After the second fire when the layer was up to ten centimeters the porch had burned down together with the temple. The second layer of combustion is probably connected with the Turkish expansion because after that the Church was not revived.
Keywords
Abkhazia, temples, Gagra region, Pshouhua, basilica.
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