Church of Kish

The Church of Kish (Azerbaijani: Kiş kilsəsi; Georgian: გიშის ეკლესია), also known from different sources as Church of Saint Elishe (Azerbaijani: Müqəddəs Yelisey kilsəsi, Armenian: Սուրբ Եղիշէ եկեղեցի; Latinised Saint Eliseus) or Holy Mother of God Church (Armenian: Սուրբ Աստուածածին եկեղեցի), is a Georgian Orthodox church, probably dating to the early 12th century, in the village of Kiş, approximately 5 km north of Shaki, Azerbaijan. It has been inactive due to lack of parishioners since the 19th century, although mass was still regularly held as of 2000 by a Georgian priest. Archaeological research undertaken in 2000 concluded that it was first built as a diophysite Georgian church, later to become a Chalcedonian church (Armenian or Caucasian Albanian). Previous research had proposed that it had functioned at different times as a Caucasian Albanian Apostolic church, a Chalcedonian church within the Georgian Orthodox Church, and later as an Armenian Apostolic Church.