We did overnight in one of the oldest settlements of Transcaucasia, Mtskheta, a town located at the confluence of the Kura and Aragvi rivers, just northwest of Tbilisi. Mtskheta was the capital of Georgia from the 2nd to the 5th century AD. We visited the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, the...
We spent two days in the cosmopolitan capital of the republic of Georgia. We parked next to Rike park above the Mtkvari River, just in the city’s center. With its dramatic valley setting, picturesque Old Town, eclectic architecture, and great eating and drinking opportunities...
Our last stop today was a large cave city located above the north side of the Mtkvari River. Between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD, Uplistsikhe (🎫 20 GEL) developed into one of pre-Christian Kartli’s chief political and religious centers, with temples dedicated principally...
The gravel road took us through depressive villages to a beautiful setting above a bend of the pretty, grapevine-strewn Tana valley. There is located impressively ancient church. Ateni Sioni. It was built in the 7th century and modeled on Mtskheta’s Jvari Church. Beautiful reliefs of...
Gori has long been synonymous with Joseph Stalin, who was born and went to school here. During his rule of the Soviet Union, the town’s center was rebuilt to his neoclassical tastes, and even today, much of the downtown area is defined by its Stalinist architecture. Although the...
We made a short stop in Borjomi – a tranquil resort town in south-central Georgia. It lies on the eastern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, surrounded by thickly forested hills. The town is famous for its salty-sour mineral water, well known in former Soviet Union countries...
We drove 60 kilometers from Akhaltsikhe to the fascinating cave city of Vardzia along the upper Mtkvari River, passing through narrow canyons into the wilderness of a beautiful green valley set between arid, rocky hillsides. The cave city of Vardzia (🎫 15 GEL, 🚐 2 GEL) is both a cultural...
Sapara Monastery has a dramatic position clinging to a cliff edge. It is a Georgian Orthodox monastery near the village of Ghreli, about 12km southeast of Akhaltsikhe (🚕 30 GEL/return, incl. stops and waiting). The largest of Sapara’s 12 churches, St Saba’s, with outstanding frescoes, was...
Our first stop in southwest Georgia, not far from the border of Turkey, was a little town with a millennium-long history – Akhaltsikhe. It is situated on both banks of a small river, Potskhovi, which divides the city between the old town in the north and the new one in the south...
Once we left Çoruh Valley, we made a short detour to visit the majestic ruins of the tenth-century Georgian monastery of Oshki. It is considered one of the four Great Cathedrals of the Georgian Orthodox world. It was built during the reign of David III Kuropalates, the ruler of Tao...