Alaverdi Monastery

Alaverdi Monastery stands alone among the vineyards of the Alazani Valley, about 20 km north of Telavi, with the Caucasus rising behind it. Its Cathedral of St George, built in the early 11th century, is about 55 m tall and was the tallest church in Georgia until Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral was consecrated in 2004. The plain stone exterior gives way to a vast, dim interior with fragments of medieval wall paintings. A fortified wall encloses the cathedral, a bell tower and the monastery buildings.

Alaverdi is a working monastery, and its monks make wine in a cellar dated to between the 10th and 12th centuries. Wines from the Alaverdi monastery cellar are respected across Georgia; the cellar is not always open to visitors, so ask a guide or your guesthouse. Every September the monastery hosts Alaverdoba, a large religious and harvest festival. Entry is free, and Alaverdi combines well with Gremi or Ikalto on a half-day loop from Telavi.

The monastery was founded in the 6th century by Joseph Alaverdeli, one of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers who brought monastic life to Georgia, on a site earlier used for pagan worship. King Kvirike III of Kakheti built the present cathedral in the early 11th century, replacing an older church, and parts of it, including the dome, were rebuilt in the 15th century. It is counted among the great cathedrals of the Georgian Orthodox Church.