Mtskheta: Guide to Ancient Monasteries
The ancient capital of Georgia – Mtskheta – is located just 20 km from Tbilisi. I’ve been to this city several times and will definitely visit again at the first opportunity. Coming to Georgia and not going to Mtskheta is simply a travel crime.
How to get to Mtskheta
Seeing Mtskheta from Tbilisi is easy – you can get there by car, use public transport, join a tour, or simply take a taxi.
By Car
Rent a car, even just for one day. This way, you can not only visit Mtskheta but also get to Gori and Uplistsikhe. I always rent cars only through LocalRent.
Traffic and parking in Georgia are no different from other countries. On the highways, of course, there are real daredevils who are late somewhere and will want to overtake you, but there aren’t many, and you just need to drive carefully and follow the rules.
You absolutely need to book the car in advance. During the high season, there are almost no cars available.
Don’t miss on my blog: Car Rentals in Georgia – the best options + everything about driving and traffic rules.
Taxi
You can try to negotiate with taxi drivers on the street. But there are a few nuances – the drivers don’t speak English, so you’ll have to use Google Translate. And 100% they’ll overcharge you, because, well, they’re taxi drivers.
The most reliable option is to book a ride online at gotrip.ge. I’ve used this service several times when I didn’t want to drive myself. You set up your route online on the website. For example, here’s a ready-made route from Tbilisi to Mtskheta. But you can also add other stops, like a trip to Uplistsikhe. The final price doesn’t change, and you pay in cash at the end of the trip. You can choose the driver and car, read real reviews. Unlimited stops along the route for photos, food. It’s like renting a car with a driver. Safe, comfortable, and fun!
By Public Transport
A minibus (marshrutka) from Didube Bus Station. This is the simplest and most affordable way. When you exit the metro, ask passersby where the stop for Mtskheta is. The minibuses run very frequently, every 15 minutes, and the ride takes about 25 minutes. In Mtskheta, you should get off in the center, at a stop not far from Svetitskhoveli.
Tours by Locals
All english guided group tours you can find here. For example: Mtskheta, Jvari, Gori and Uplistsikhe Day Tour.
What to See in Mtskheta
In Mtskheta, you can stroll along a few renovated streets with souvenirs and have some Lagidze Water lemonade. Don’t expect any particular charm of an old town here. People come to Mtskheta to see the ancient churches:
- Jvari Monastery (link to Google Maps here)
- Samtavro Monastery
- Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
- Shio-Mgvime Monastery
If you’re on your own car, you can plan about 3–4 hours to explore, and then head to Uplistsikhe.
Jvari Monastery
A very famous Russian writer, Mikhail Lermontov, in the 19th century, wrote about this monastery:
“Where, merging, roar,
Embracing like two sisters,
The streams of Aragvi and Kura,
There was a monastery. From behind the mountain
Even today a pedestrian sees
The pillars of fallen gates,
And towers, and the church’s vault…”
Jvari Monastery is located on Mount Armazi. “Jvari” translates as “cross.” According to legend, Saint Nino, traveling across Georgia to preach, erected a cross here.
Building churches on mountain tops is not uncommon in Georgia. It is believed that people should make the effort to walk up to the church on foot.
In 545, before Jvari was built, there was a small church here, of which only ruins remain. You won’t see any frescoes in the monastery; they appeared in church decoration only after the 11th century. Jvari, after its construction in the 6th century, has not changed its appearance.
From the viewpoint near Jvari, you get the most popular view of Mtskheta. There are two viewpoints near the monastery. Usually, people crowd at the first one, closer to the road. Walk around Jvari, and you’ll find a small balcony with far fewer people.
Below, the Aragvi and Kura rivers truly merge (though they don’t roar). The Aragvi originates on the southern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. The Georgian Military Highway runs along the Aragvi valley. Near Mtskheta, the Aragvi flows into the Kura. The Kura is the largest river in the South Caucasus, flowing through Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan.
How to Get There. Jvari is located on a hill. By car, you can drive up to the parking lot near the monastery. If using public transport:
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From Mtskheta by minibus, but only in summer. It departs at 12, 15, and 17 from the Tourist Information Center near Svetitskhoveli Cathedral. The fare is 5 lari. You can also find taxi drivers there.
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From Tbilisi – take a minibus going to Mtskheta. Tell the driver, and they will drop you at the turn, just before the town, at the Jvari sign. From there, it’s a 5 km walk uphill. I say this cautiously – again, without a car in Georgia, it can be quite miserable.
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral
After Jvari, we head to the first and one of the main churches of Georgia – Svetitskhoveli.
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (Cathedral of the 12 Apostles) is the patriarchal cathedral of the Georgian Orthodox Church. Its name translates as “The Living Pillar” (Sveti – pillar, Tskhoveli – living, miraculous). It has existed since 1010 and for a millennium has been considered the main church of Christian Georgia.
The cathedral houses the robe of Christ, which is why Mtskheta is sometimes called the second Jerusalem. The robe of Christ is the seamless garment received by one of the soldiers present at Christ’s crucifixion.
The robe was brought to Georgia (then the Kingdom of Iberia) by Mtskheta Jews – Rabbi Elioz and his brother. Elioz gave the robe to his sister Sidonia and told her what had happened. Shocked, Sidonia died, and no one could take the robe from her hands, so she was buried with it. A cedar tree grew on her grave a few years later. Locals noticed that sick animals ate the needles and recovered, and since then the tree has been considered sacred.
When Saint Nino came to Mtskheta, she asked for a church to be built on the grave. Seven pillars for the church were carved from the sacred cedar, but one could not be moved, and healing myrrh began to flow from it. This pillar became Svetitskhoveli.
The Living Pillar is located roughly in the center of the cathedral, at the site of the third column on the left.
Samtavro Monastery
Samtavro – a women’s monastery, on whose grounds today stand the Transfiguration Cathedral and the Church of Saint Nino. It is the second most significant church in Mtskheta, also associated with Saint Nino. In the 4th century, this part of the city lay outside the city walls. Nino stayed here with the royal gardener. She built herself a small house under a blackberry bush, where she preached. After her death, the first Christian king of Georgia, Mirian, who built Svetitskhoveli, founded a small church on this site, where he was later buried. His sarcophagus is in the corner to the left of the entrance.
We don’t know what that original church looked like. After the 11th century, it was rebuilt. The church was reconstructed several more times: in 1283, an earthquake destroyed many churches, including the cave city of Vardzia, and Samtavro collapsed; 100 years later, the church suffered again from Tamerlane’s invasions.
I have been to Samtavro twice. The second time, I wasn’t allowed in because of shorts (it was +40°C in the shade outside – yes, I should have run to put on jeans) and unlike other similar sites, they didn’t offer anything to tie around my waist, like a skirt. Well, fine. But keep that in mind.
On the grounds of Samtavro Monastery is the tomb of Archimandrite Gavriil. Local guides love to tell his story because everything about Saint Nino has already been said at Svetitskhoveli, and something has to be told.
In 1929, Vasiko Urgebadze was born in Tbilisi. He took monastic vows under the name Gavriil. In 1965, he carried out an unprecedented act – he burned a portrait of Lenin, believing that one should not glorify or worship a human being. In 1971, he became the abbot of Samtavro Monastery. He passed away in 1995 and was canonized in 2012. In 2014, incorruptibility of his relics was recorded. Gavriil’s body was transferred to Svetitskhoveli and later returned to Samtavro, where he currently rests in the northwest corner of the church.
Shio-Mgvime Monastery
Shio-Mgvime Monastery is located 11 km from Mtskheta. It’s at the end of a dead-end road, so the only way to get there is by car. Try asking at the Samtavro parking lot – maybe you’ll get lucky and someone is going there. Or arrange with taxi drivers in Mtskheta for a round trip, plus an hour waiting at the monastery.
I definitely recommend visiting. I liked Shio-Mgvime Monastery and its grounds much more than Samtavro. We were also lucky to catch a church service – it was very beautiful.
The monastery is situated on a hill, and each building seems to stand above the other. The oldest structure, dating from 560–580, is the Church of St. John the Baptist.
The central church – the Church of the Virgin – was built on the initiative of David the Builder in 1100. Originally, the church had a dome, but during Shah Abbas’s invasion in 1614, it was destroyed and only restored in 1678 in a simplified form. From the outside, it’s not an impressive building, but inside the church is very beautiful – many paintings and frescoes have been preserved.
After this, if you followed my advice and rented a car, you can head straight to the ancient cave city of Uplistsikhe, which is located 60 km from Mtskheta.
