Shio-Mgvime monastery

The Shio-Mgvime Monastery (Georgian: შიომღვიმე, Shiomghvime, literally meaning "the cave of Shio") is a medieval monastic complex in Georgia, near the town of Mtskheta.

According to a historic tradition, the first monastic community at this place was founded by the 6th-century monk Shio, one of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers who came to Georgia as Christian missionaries.

The church has an octagonal dome covered with a conic floor and once housed a masterfully ornate stone iconostasis which is now on display at the Art Museum of Georgia in Tbilisi.

The Upper Church (zemo eklesia) named after the Theotokos is a central part of the Shio-Mgvime complex constructed at the verge of the 12th century at the behest of King David IV of Georgia.

An archaeological expedition revealed, in 1937, a 2 km (1.2 mi) long aqueduct supplying the monastic communities from the nearby village of Skhaltba, and chronicled in 1202 as being constructed by Bishop Anton of Chkondidi, a minister at Queen Thamar's court.

The view of the entire Shio-Mgvime Monastery complex from above.
The Shiomgvime Monastery
St. Shio, an eponymous founder of the monastery, as depicted on a 19th-century mural.