Thala Abandoned Settlement: Church Ruins and Ancient Cemetery

The abandoned settlement of Thala (locally known as Talas Naeklesiari) offers a stark look into the medieval history of the Tsalka Plateau. Situated high in the volcanic plains of southern Georgia, this complex contains the stone ruins of an early medieval hall church, a sprawling ancestral cemetery, and monumental gravestones (Sasalao). The wind-swept site preserves a physical record of rural communal life that endured for centuries before geopolitical shifts led to the complete desertion of the village.

Architecture of the Medieval Hall Church

The focal point of the settlement is the ruined church, a classic example of Georgian regional stone masonry from the Middle Ages. Constructed using heavily weathered, massive basalt blocks and rough-hewn stone blocks, the building follows a simple single-nave design. Though the vaulted roof has collapsed, the thick perimeter walls and foundational lines still define the sacred space. The stone arrangement reveals a reliance on local volcanic materials, built to withstand the freezing winter climates of the high-altitude plateau.

The Ancestral Cemetery and Historical Gravestones

Surrounding the ecclesiastical ruins is an extensive burial ground filled with significant funerary art. The collection includes rectangular stone slabs, early Christian cross-stones, and anthropomorphic or Zoomorphic markers typical of Trialeti culture.

• Iconography: Several headstones feature faint engravings, cross carvings, and geometric patterns representing medieval spiritual traditions.
• Cultural Continuity: The sheer density of the graves indicates that Thala remained a crucial regional population center and burial ground across multiple generations.
• Current State: The stone slabs lie naturally integrated into the mountain pasture, maintaining their original orientation toward the east.