Kvetera Fortress and Church

Kvetera is the overgrown ruin of a medieval fortified town on a wooded hill above the Ilto River, about 9 km west of Akhmeta. Ruined walls and towers ring the hill, but the main reason to come is the church at the top: a small domed tetraconch from the early 10th century, built of finely cut local tuff, with four apses, niches between them and a dome drum divided into 12 arches. Its proportions are compact and elegant, and it has almost no carved decoration, as is typical of Kakhetian churches of the period.

Kvetera sees far fewer visitors than Alaverdi or Gremi, and the forest setting gives it a quiet, out-of-the-way feel. Expect a short uphill walk through the trees from where you park. The church has been on Georgia's UNESCO World Heritage tentative list since 2007. There are no facilities or guides on site, so read up before you go. It combines well with Alaverdi and Akhmeta on a half-day drive from Telavi.

Kvetera was one of the centres of the principality of Kakheti in the early Middle Ages. According to the 18th-century historian Vakhushti Bagrationi, the settlement existed by the 8th century, and it is mentioned in an 11th-century document. The church was built in the early 10th century inside the fortified town. Kvetera later lost its importance, and the fortress was abandoned and taken over by forest.