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Southern Georgia

Georgia's southern flank is a diverse and highly scenic region whose biggest attractions are the spectacular cave city of Vardzia, the important religious centre of Mtskheta and the stunning mountain landscapes of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Historically much of the region was part of Tao-Klarjeti, a cradle of medieval Georgian culture that extended well into what’s now northeast Turkey. Tao-Klarjeti fell under Ottoman rule from the 1550s to the 1870s, was briefly part of independent Georgia after the Russian Revolution, and was then divided between Turkey and Bolshevik Georgia in 1921. This is in many ways Georgia's heartland: St Nino passed through on her way to bring Christianity to Georgia and national bard Shota Rustaveli was born here. More recently, the town of Gori was the birthplace of one Joseph Stalin, who also did his bit to put the area on the map.

Top attractions

These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Southern Georgia.

  • See

    Vardzia

    The remarkable cave city of Vardzia is both a cultural symbol and a spectacular natural phenomenon with a special place in Georgian hearts. King Giorgi III built a fortification here in the 12th century, and his daughter, Queen Tamar, established a cave monastery that grew into a holy city housing perhaps 2000 monks, renowned as a spiritual bastion of Christendom’s eastern frontier. Altogether there are over 400 rooms, 13 churches and 25 wine cellars, with many more still being discovered today.

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    Svetitskhoveli Cathedral

    This extraordinary (and for its time, enormous) building dates from the 11th century, early in the golden age of Georgian church architecture. It has an elongated cross plan and is adorned with beautiful stone carving outside and in. Christ’s robe is believed to lie beneath the central nave, under a square pillar decorated with colourful if faded frescoes of the conversion of Kartli.

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    Uplistsikhe

    This once enormous cave city sits 10km east of Gori above the north side of the Mtkvari River. Between the 6th century BC and 1st century AD, Uplistsikhe developed into one of the chief political and religious centres of pre-Christian Kartli, with temples dedicated principally to the sun goddess. After the Arabs occupied Tbilisi in AD 645, Uplistsikhe became the residence of the Christian kings of Kartli and an important trade centre on a main caravan road from Asia to Europe.

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    Stalin Museum

    This impressively designed museum makes no serious attempt to present a balanced account of Stalin's career or deeds. It remains, much as when it opened in 1957, a reverent homage to the Gori boy who became a key figure of 20th-century history – although displays do now at least refer to the purges, the Gulag and his 1939 pact with Hitler. The Dzhugashvili family's wood-and-mud-brick house where Stalin lived for the first four years of his life is reverentially preserved outside.

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    Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park

    The ranges of the Lesser Caucasus in southern Georgia are less well known and much lower than the Great Caucasus, but they still contain some very beautiful and wild country. Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park provides the perfect chance to get out into this landscape. The park spreads over 851 sq km of forested hills and alpine meadows up to 2642m high.

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    Jvari Church

    Visible for kilometres around on its hilltop overlooking Mtskheta from the east, Jvari is, to many Georgians, the holiest of holies. It stands where King Mirian erected his famous wooden cross soon after being converted by St Nino in the 4th century. Between 585 and 604 Stepanoz I, the eristavi (duke) of Kartli, constructed the church over the cross.

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    Rabati Castle

    Rabati Castle has been comprehensively renovated from the perilous, semi-ruined state it was left in a decade ago, and while it was a much-needed investment, sadly what greets you today feels a bit Disneyfied. You'll enter through the eastern, lower part of the complex, which doesn't require a ticket but is where you should buy one for the upper castle with its mosque, citadel and museum. A tour is a good idea to bring things alive.

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    Ateni Sioni

    This impressively ancient church has a beautiful setting above a bend of the pretty, grapevine-strewn Tana valley, 12km south of Gori. Ateni Sioni was built in the 7th century and modelled on Mtskheta’s Jvari Church. Beautiful reliefs of stags, a hunting scene and a knight were carved into the exterior walls later. Inside, the 11th-century frescoes, depicting biblical scenes and Georgian rulers, are among the finest medieval art in the country.

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    Sapara Monastery

    Sapara has a dramatic position clinging to a cliff edge about 12km southeast of Akhaltsikhe, and rivals Vardzia as one of the most important sights in the region (and receives a fraction of Vardzia's visitors). In existence since at least the 9th century, it became the residence of the local ruling family, the Jakelis, in the 13th century. The largest of Sapara’s 12 churches, St Saba’s, with outstanding frescoes, dates from that time.