The New Shuamta Monastery was founded in the XVI century by the King of Kakheti Levan (1520-1574) and his wife Tinatin. Monastery is dedicated to the Holy Icon of Mother of God named “Khakhuli”.
It is thanks to the Khakhuli icon of the Most Holy Virgin that its receptacle, the New Shuamta monastery, has been cherished as the most important monastery dedicated to the Mother of God in Kakheti.
In 1926, the Bolshevik authorities shut down the New Shuamta Monastery, evicted the monastics, transferred the Khakhuli icon of the Most Holy Virgin to the Georgian Museum of Art and opened here the holiday house. Later, during the second world war, an orphanage was arranged in the monastery’s territory. In the 80-ies of the XX century they had a plan to open here a youth hostel.
In 1990, after 70 years of the atheist regime, the Monastery was finally returned to the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church. In 1995, with the blessing of Metropolitan David of Alaverdi, the New Shuamta monastery was renovated.
The praise dedicated to the Mother of God of Khakhuli, preserved in the charters of the kings, formed the basis of the prayer to the icon:
O thou who didst come from the seed of Adam, but through grace didst become the Mother of God Who for our salvation, through the benevolence of the Father, and by the power of the Holy Spirit, was born of thee, and was clothed in human nature without changing His divinity; and the Son of God became thy Son Who dispersed the sorrow of Eve and her seed; O thou true joy of mankind, thou who dost wash away our sins like the flood in the time of Noah, thou tent of Abraham beloved of the Lord; and thou who didst contain God, O rose unfading of David thy forefather, and the song of praise of Solomon, thou against whom the gates of hell cannot prevail, O Jacob’s ladder leading into heaven, O Aaron’s staff budding forth wondrously, O burning bush unburned of Moses, O most beauteous blossom from the root of Jesse, O swift cloud of Isaiah, and overshadowed mountain which Habakkuk foresaw, O true prophecy of the prophets, O thou whom the apostles preached in fervor, thou joy of the martyrs and pride of the hierarchs, O thou great gift to mankind, O thou who didst become the new mother and didst preserve thy virginity, O thou more glorious than the creation, do thou, O Most Holy Mother of God of Khakhuli, accept this sacrifice of prayer for the salvation of our souls and pardon our sins, and do thou grant us thy mercies from God, and do thou lead us unto good from this day and forevermore, and be thou our defender and protector in all the days of our lives. Amen.