West Facade and Entrance. Standing in front of the church, the full mass of its stone walls and the entrance porch rise above the courtyard. The Great Church of Jvari was raised between about 586 and 605 under Stepanoz I, ruler of Kartli — and it still stands largely as it was built more than 1,400 years ago. The walls are built of large, finely dressed blocks of pale stone that glow honey-gold in the low evening sun.
