Image of the Snake-Dragon in the Architectural Decoration of the Christian Churches of the Medieval Period

Abstract

The article focuses on the evolution of the image of the snake in the architectural decoration of the Christian churches in Caucasus during the medieval period. The origins of the image in the more ancient cultures of the Mesopotamia and of the Mediterranean world are studied. An attempt is made to trace the continuity in the image and meaning of the snake from ancient times up to the present day (according to ethnography and folk art). A rare iconographic type of a snake was revealed, which appears in the Middle Byzantine period in the remote mountainous regions of the Caucasus (the upper reaches of the Ksani and Liakhvi rivers, Racha, Svaneti, Upper Kartli).

Keywords

• snake
• dragon
• architectural decoration
• caucasus
• medieval period