TBILISI, September 22 – In Georgia’s Kvemo Kartli region, heritage activists have carried out a major cleanup of the 13th-century Pitareti Monastery, a national cultural monument threatened by age and earthquake damage.
The project was led by Movement for Cultural Heritage, a civic initiative that for five years has been organizing bi-annual campaigns to clear and protect historic sites across Georgia. The campaigns are branded as “spring” and “autumn” cycles, though in practice the work often continues into summer and early fall.
This season, volunteers and conservationists cleared Pitareti’s wine cellar, library building, historic defensive walls, cemetery, and surrounding grounds. The monastery, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, was built between 1213 and 1222 and is considered one of the finest examples of medieval Georgian church architecture. It was badly damaged in a 1988 earthquake, and while emergency repairs were attempted, parts of its frescoes and stonework remain at risk.
Since 2018, the National Agency for Cultural Heritage Protection has overseen roofing and stabilization works, while specialists have conducted rare conservation studies on the site’s murals. Urgent restoration of wall paintings, carried out between 2020 and 2024, helped preserve surviving sections of the altar frescoes.
“This cleanup campaign is very important,” said Nino Burchuladze, head of the initiative. She noted that Pitareti is the fourth monument targeted, following cleanups of the Bulmugi Bath, Satkhi Monastery, and Khuluti Fortress.
Activists plan to continue later this year with similar work at the historic Sioni site in Dmanisi and Mushevani church complex.
