Tsminda Sameba (Holy Trinity) Cathedral

High on Elia Hill above Avlabari rises the biggest symbol of Georgia's post-Soviet religious revival, the Tsminda Sameba (Holy Trinity) Cathedral, (an unmissable landmark by night and day) consecrated in 2004 after a decade of building work. A massive expression of traditional Georgian architectural forms in concrete, brick, granite and marble, it rises 84m to the top of the gold-covered cross above its central dome.

The main entrance to the cathedral's extensive grounds is on Uritski, reached via Meskhishvili up the hill from Ketevan Tsamebulis moedani. The cathedral is five-aisles wide but its emphasis is on verticality, with a result like one single, many-bulwarked tower. The huge dome creates a larger and much brighter central space than you'll find in most Georgian churches. A big new illuminated manuscript of the New Testament, in a jewel-studded silver cover, stands in a glass case to the right of the altar. There's a whole large second church beneath the main one, down 81 steps from the west end. Designed by Archil Mindiashvili, the building was paid for mostly by donations from anonymous businesspeople and citizens. Some controversy surrounded its construction on the site of an old Armenian cemetery.