Chokhuldi's Savior Church is a small single nave church located in the village of Chokhuldi in the Bechos community. It was built in the 11th century and is notable for the architectural articulation of the facades with the use of blind arches of various types.
The church’s interior and chancel-barrier were painted in the 13th century, making it an interesting example of wall painting from this period. The overall iconographic program of the murals is made up of several scenes selected from the Great Feasts cycle, and their combination serves to emphasize the dyophysite Christological doctrine within the general Theophanic context. Noteworthy is the depiction of the so called Deesis-Vision in the apse conch, which appears as the leading theme of the chancel painting of this period both in Upper and Lower Svaneti.
Also notable is the depiction of Holy Desert Fathers, which is quite rare in the wall paintings of Svaneti.
When compared with contemporary murals, Chokhuldi's murals most clearly show the characteristic features of the dynamic-decorative style of the period, especially in the overall compositional arrangement of the ensemble. Furthermore, the simplified 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.
Extremely faded donor portrait of a Svan nobleman preserved here is quite peculiar - the donor, who had commissioned the mural decoration is depicted holding a model of the church, as the church builder, which is quite rare in the medieval mural painting. Regretfully, the identity of this donor remains unknown due to the lack of an identifying inscription. Another interesting point is that Chokhuldi’s murals are the only ones in Svaneti lacking any explanatory inscriptions.
| Location | The church is located in the center of the village Chokhuldi |
| The Key Holder | The Key is kept at Amiran Pangani Family |