The Temple of the Dormition of the Mother of God

On the northern outskirts of the village of Dranda, on an elevated plateau, between slender cypresses, the squat building of the Drand Cathedral darkens. This monument belongs to the cross-domed four-pillar temples, which had the greatest distribution in Byzantium in the VI-VII centuries. Its eastern facade is decorated with three five-sided protrusions outside, containing an altar and side rooms connected with it by passages - a deacon and an altar. The latter in the western part of the temple correspond to two round rooms with deep semi-circular niches. From the west, they are adjacent to an extensive longitudinal room - a narthex with choirs in the second floor. The temple is crowned with a dome resting on a low sixteen-sided (outside) drum. The walls, vault and dome of the temple are made of “red brick, from the inside covered with plaster and fresco paintings.”