Ancient Albanian Temple, Sheki

Kish , the oldest of Azaerbaijani villages, is known for the unique ancient Albanian temple. It has a special status among Christian Albanian monuments. It is valuable not only as an architectural monument b ut also b ecause of its outstanding historical significance. The o fficial date of its birth is the 1st century AD when the territory of Azerbaijan was included into Caucasian part of Albania . Historians assume that the temple was founded by apostle Elise i w ho broug ht Christianity to Albania : " Elise i having received the Orient as his lot went from Jerusalem to Persia and start ed to preach with his three pupils; there he w as prosecuted so he arrived in Kish where h e founded a church and made a bloodless sacrifice"

During the peak of Christian religion on this territory the Temple was very popular ; however , later it was forgotten and has miraculously survived .

Even now the Temple amazes imagination with its beauty. The bright red spiked hip- roof "burns" i n the sun. There is a cross on the tall dome. T he th ick walls of the Temple a re decorated with small windows

It is cool inside the T emple even in the hottest weather, the air t here is s aturated with antiquity and the it seems like the God's presence is tangible . The visitors throw coins in a special niche making a wish . The i nternal walls of the Temple , unfortunately, have peeled off and decayed. But in one place there is still a layer of ancient plaster . People believe that if a coin stucks to this spot the wish will come true. The yard of the Temple is also interesting. There you will find an ancient burial place covered with a transparent plastic dome. One can see the ancient people's bones lying several meters deep. There are a number of such burials on the territory of the T emple . Apparently, there were buried attendants of the T emple or holy people who had deserved the right to be buried at the foot of «the H ouse of the God " . The height of the buried people is amazing - two meters and taller.

One of the f ew survived ancient temple s of the Caucasian Albania , the C hurch of St. Elise i in the village of Kish , is the monument of centuries-old Christian culture of Transcaucasian region.