Lagurka Church (Kala)

Lagurka is the church of Saints Kvirike and Ivlita, the patron saints of the Kala community in Upper Svaneti. It stands alone on a steep slope at about 2,200 m, high above the village of Khe on the left bank of the upper Enguri, roughly two-thirds of the way from Mestia to Ushguli. The name comes from the Svan form of Kvirike. The church is tiny, a hall of yellowish limestone about 5 m long, with later annexes on two sides and a two-storey bell tower at the west end that doubles as the entrance porch. A ruined, toothed stone wall still rings the site.

Inside, a stone screen with three openings divides the apse from the nave, and the walls are painted. A damaged inscription dates the murals to 1111 or 1112, and the painter's name, Tevdore, has been restored by comparison with his work in the Svan churches of Iprari and Nakipari. Lagurka is at its liveliest on 28 July, the feast of Kvirikoba, when people from all over Svaneti climb up for a day of prayer, song and celebration. On other days it is usually quiet, with long views along the Enguri valley.

The building carries no date, but its style places it between the late 10th and early 12th centuries, and the paintings followed in 1111 or 1112. Later a painter named Giorgi, son of Anton, repaired the damaged paintings of the conch and the screen. As the shrine of the community's patron saints, Lagurka has long been the setting for Kvirikoba, one of the great all-Svan pilgrimages of the summer.