Arsukisdze Explained

Arsukidze or Arsukidze (Georgian: არსუკისძე|tr) was a Georgian architect who built Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Mtskheta, the then capital of the Kingdom of Georgia.

His name is inscribed on the external northern wall of the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. A relief sculpture shows a right arm and hand holding an L-square - symbol of the stonemason – with an inscription reads:An inscription on the east façade further attests to the fact that Arsukidze did not live to see his masterpiece finished (in 1029):

His given name or other details are unknown.

In Popular Culture

Konstantine Gamsakhurdia's novel, The Right Hand of the Grand Master is based on the person of Arsukidze. In the novel, Gamsakhurdia uses Konstantine as his given name and changes the Surname Arsukidze with Arsakidze.[1] thinks that he does so for political reasons. SUK (Georgian: სუკი) was a Georgian abbreviation of KGB and according to Sigua, Gamsakhurdia did not want the readers to associate the character with the security forces.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: ქართული ისტორიული რომანი . ka . Georgian Historical novel . Berdzenishvili . Levan . Levan Berdzenishvili . liberal.ge . 2018-05-15 . 2023-07-15 .