A chased book cover of the 12th-century Berta Gospels.
The Monastery of the Mother of God in Berta or Bertay is first mentioned by the 10th-century Georgian author
Giorgi Merchule as a part of Georgian monastic communities operating under the guidance of
Grigol of Khandzta (759–861) in what then was the Georgian
Bagratid principality of
Klarjeti. The monastery sat on a hill overlooking what is now the village of Ortaköy and consisted of several structures, of which the main church was a
domed structure faced with smoothly finished small blocks. After the
Ottomantakeover of the area in the 16th century, the church was abandoned. In the 19th century, the remaining edifice was
converted into a mosque and a
minaret was added to it. The ruins of a large rectangular refectory have survived to the north of the former church.[1][2]
Berta manuscripts
The monastery also functioned as a center for literary activities. Two important Georgian manuscripts known as the Berta Gospels have survived. One, dating from 988, is preserved at the Museum of
Andover Newton Theological School in the
United States; the other (Q-906) dates from the 12th century and is kept at the
National Center for Manuscripts in
Tbilisi,
Georgia. Its gilded book-cover is attributed to the 12th-century master Beshken of Opiza.[3][4][5]
References
^Khoshtaria, David (2009). "Past and Present of the Georgian Sinai: A Survey of Architectural History and Current State of Monasteries in Klarjeti". In Soustal, Peter (ed.). Heilige Berge und Wüsten: Byzanz und sein Umfeld; Referate auf dem 21. Internationalen Kongress für Byzantinistik, London, 21.–26. August 2006. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. p. 80.
ISBN978-3700165613.
^Kadiroğlu, Mine (2008). "Islamic Features in the Architecture of Tao-Klardjet". In Kellner-Heinkele, Barbara; Gierlichs, Joachim; Heuer, Brigitte (eds.). Islamic Art and Architecture in the European Periphery: Crimea, Caucasus, and the Volga-Ural Region. Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 188–189.
ISBN9783447057530.
^Djobadze, Wachtang (1992). Early Medieval Georgian Monasteries in Historic Tao, Klarjet'i, and Šavšet'i. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. p. 18.
ISBN3-515-05624-6.
^Metzger, Bruce M. (2001) [1977]. The Early Versions of the New Testament: Their Origin, Transmission, and Limitations. Oxford University Press. p. 189.
ISBN0-19-826170-5.
Giviashvili, Irine; Koplatadze, Irakli (2007).
"Berta". Virtual Museum of Tao-Klarjeti. Cultural Heritage without Borders Fund. Archived from
the original on 2014-05-24. Retrieved 23 May 2014.