Chokhuld's Savior Church is a small single nave church located in the village of Chokhuld in the Bechos community. It was built in the 11th century and is notable for the unique decoration of its façades, which features various arches.
The church’s interior and chancel were painted in the 13th century, making it an interesting example of wall painting from this period. The overall iconographic program of the is made up of several scenes selected from the feast cycle, and their combination serves to emphasize the doctrine of the dual nature of Christ in the context of theophany. A key feature is the inclusion of the "Vision of Ezekiel" as the central theme of the chancel painting, which appears as the leading theme in the wall paintings of this period both in Upper and Lower Svaneti.
Also notable is the depiction of Holy Fathers, which is quite rare in the wall paintings of Svaneti.
When compared with contemporary murals, Chokhuld's paintings clearly show the characteristic features of the dynamic-decorative style of the period, especially in the overall conceptualization of the wall painting. Furthermore, the simplified approach to the modeling of forms, the distinctive spiritualization and expressiveness of the figures, and the harmonious color palette created through subtle tonal gradations of a limited range of colors, are particularly remarkable.
A rare feature is the extremely faded patron's portrait of a nobleman from Svaneti. The patron is depicted holding a model of the church, a rare motif in medieval painting. Unfortunately, the identity of this patron remains unknown due to the lack of an identifying inscription. Another interesting point is that Chokhuld’s murals are the only ones in Svaneti where the depictions are without explanatory inscriptions.
