Shoana Church

Shoana Church (Шоанинский храм), also known as Khumara Church (Хумаринский храм), is an early 10th-century Alanian church sited on a cliff above the left bank of the Kuban River, 7 km upstream from Karachayevsk, Russia and 4 km downstream from the ruins of Skhimar, in the vicinity of Kosta Khetagurov Village. It is a typical Byzantine-style church, 12.9 meters high, with three naves, separated by four pillars. The building was first explored and depicted by Joseph Bernardazzi in 1829; a more scholarly description was given by Abraham Firkovich in 1848. Two medieval books from this church are now in the University of Göttingen.