Free Republic

Now referred to as the "Burnt Church," this structure was likely burned to the ground during a Sasanian conquest of Hippos in the beginning of the seventh century. (The Sasanian empire was the last Persian empire before the emergence of Islam). Its mosaic floors, however, were well preserved in the ash. The mosaic was very colorful and had two Greek inscriptions that describe the ancient church fathers, who built the church for a martyr named "Theodoros." The mosaic was also covered in geometric patterns, birds, fish, fruit and baskets. Some of the baskets were filled with loaves of bread and...

Nestled by the picturesque river Tekhuri, on the northern edge of the Colchian plain in Samegrelo, western Georgia, lie the impressive ruins of Nokalakevi (Figures 1 & 2). Occupying some 20ha, the site was known to early Byzantine historians as Archaeopolis, and to the neighbouring Georgian (Kartlian) chroniclers as Tsikhegoji, or the fortress of Kuji -- a semi-mythical Colchian ruler or 'Eristavi'. The fortress is located 15km from the modern town of Senaki on the Martvili road, and would have commanded an important crossing point of the river Tekhuri, at the junction with a valuable strategic route that still winds...