Opiza

a medieval monastery in the historical district of Klar-dzheti (now in Turkish territory, in the vilayet [province] of Art-vin). Opiza was the first cultural center of feudal Georgia to be restored after the Arab conquests of the seventh and eighth centuries. (The metalists Beka and Beshken Opizari worked at Opiza.) The monastery consists of eighth- and ninth-century structures. The main cathedral is a cruciform domed building having two short transepts, an elongated western part, and a narthex. The dome, which was restored in the tenth century, rests on complex pendentives and has an umbrellalike roof. The refectory has a three-aisled hall. A relief from Opiza with a portrait of the king Ashot Curopalates (stone, ninth century) is now in the Museum of Art of the Georgian SSR in Tbilisi.