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Concrete Hedge Was Constructed Around the 18th Century Church in Matani Village without Permission

August 31, 2017
 
Reginfo.ge 

There is the 18th Century Church in the yard of the Ancient Fortress, which belonged to the Georgian noble family of the Cholokashvili’s in Matani village, Akhmeta municipality. The Church has status of the cultural heritage. Recently, the locals, upon agreement with the Alaverdi Church Eparchy, constructed a concrete hedge around the church and the stairs without official permission from the respective state institutions. The width of the hedge is almost 2 meters and the height about 1 meter.

Monument reservation specialist at the Akhmeta municipal administration Eldar Tchitchiashvili told REGinfo that locals complained about unpaved yard of the church, which created problems in rainy days, when they needed to walk around the church. There was grass field around the church before the concrete hedge was constructed. 

“They also say that during rain the water used to flow into the church. We could use other means to protect the church from the rain, but this construction damaged the original view of the church,” Eldar Tchitchiashvili said.

He added that soon after the construction started, which lasted one month, he appealed the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Preservation several times and requested to send specialists on the site.

“As soon as I learned about the commenced construction, I informed the Agency about it and then contacted their representatives several times; I requested them to send specialists. They used to promise me but the construction finished and nobody arrived here. When somebody wants to build something for the church, they should consult with more competent people,” Eldar Tchitchiashvili said.

The representatives of the Alaverdi Eparchy supervised the construction activities. Episcope Davit did not comment on the fact. 

According to the information of the REGinfo, the construction was not agreed with the National Agency and the builders did not have respective permission.

REGinfo asked why the specialists of the Agency did not arrive in Matani to study the situation on the place when they learned about the ongoing constructions. The representative of the public relations department of the Agency Beka Baramidze said: “There was a problem in the church. Water used to flow inside the church. The construction was not agreed. There is no permission on it. The original construction was damaged but we agreed with the clergymen that new reconstruction project will be developed and everything will be envisaged by them.”


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