St George's Church

On the southern edge of Qax, near the main bus station, a Georgian-style stone church stands quietly in a walled compound on the left bank of the Kakistskali river. This is St George's Church, a Georgian Orthodox building that dates in its current form to the early 18th century, built to replace an earlier church levelled during Shah Abbas I's invasion of Georgia in the early 17th century.

The church is still active and serves the local Ingilo community — Georgians who settled in this area centuries ago and whose descendants remain today. It is the only active Georgian Orthodox church in Azerbaijan, a fact that gives it a significance well beyond its modest size. Visitors are generally welcome outside service times. The setting, between the river and the forested hills, is attractive in itself.

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St George's Church is the only active Georgian Orthodox church in Azerbaijan. The Ingilo community — ethnic Georgians who converted to Islam over the centuries but retained their language and some Christian customs — has worshipped in this area for generations. The church was reconstructed in the first half of the 18th century on the ruins of an earlier building destroyed during Shah Abbas I's campaigns through the Caucasus.