Liturgy and architecture : Constantinopolitan rite and changes in the architectural planning of Georgian Churches

In the first half of the eleventh century, the Georgian Church standardized liturgy and church architecture, a process that had begun at the end of the preceding century. Literary evidence indicates that this shift, from the Hagiopolite tradition to the Constantinopolitan Liturgical Rite, was gradual and related to the presence of Georgians on Mount Athos, in particular to the Great Synaxarion edited by George Hagiorites between 1044 and 1056. Architectural evidence indicates a similar, gradual, process of transformation of sanctuaries in keeping with the new regulations in monastic, parish, and cathedral churches of Georgia. This paper argues that the process was taking place among the monasteries of T'ao-K'larjeti and speculate that the Studite Rite, which served as a basis for the Constantinopolitan Rite, was translated and practiced by Georgian monks in the Oshk'i, Otkhta Ek'lesia, and P'arkhali monasteries before the foundation of Iviron Monastery on Mount Athos.