Until last July, Gelati Monastery and Bagrati Cathedral composed a UNESCO site in Georgia. I already had a card of the cathedral but in July the committee introduced a major reduction in the boundaries of the this site, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994 and on the List in Danger in 2010. The new boundaries exclude Bagrati Cathedral, which has undergone major reconstruction detrimental to its integrity and authenticity. This means Gelati Monastery was missing in my collection. I've traded again with Sini and received this nice card.
Founded in 1106 in the west of Georgia, the Monastery of Gelati is a masterpiece of the Golden Age of medieval Georgia, a period of political strength and economic growth between the 11th and 13th centuries. It is characterized by the facades of smoothly hewn large blocks, balanced proportions and blind arches for exterior decoration. The Gelati monastery, one of the largest medieval Orthodox monasteries, was also a centre of science and education and the Academy it housed was one of the most important centres of culture in ancient Georgia. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/710
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