Must-see attractions in Southern Georgia

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Borjomi’s mineral water park, dating back to 1850, occupies a narrow wooded valley and includes the town's original mineral water source, Ekaterina Spring…

This impressive 10th- to 14th-century fortress perches on a rocky crag above the meeting of the Paravani and Mtkvari Rivers, 45km southeast of Akhaltsikhe…

Mtskheta was an important place as capital of the Iverian kingdom well before St Nino arrived. At Armaztsikhe-Bagineti, on the south side of the Mtkvari…

About 4km south of Tmogvi village and 2km before Vardzia, a track heads 600m up from the road to this cave monastery that predated Vardzia by four…

Eleven kilometres past Khertvisi Fortress towards Vardzia, atop a high rocky hill across the river (which flows far below in a gorge), the remains of the…

This partially reconstructed oval citadel stands on the hill at the heart of Gori. It dates mostly from the Middle Ages, with 17th-century additions. With…

Housed in the former Romanov offices, this diverse collection includes the first-ever bottle of Borjomi mineral water (1890) and other displays on the…

The Samtskhe-Javakheti History Museum has well-displayed exhibits ranging from archaeological finds from the 4th-millennium-BC Kura-Araxes culture to…

The War Museum is mostly devoted to Gori people’s involvement in WWII, but also contains a small display on the 2008 war. In the lobby are a few pieces of…

A charmingly ancient cable car beside the Borjomi Central Park entrance carries you up to a hilltop Ferris wheel and the pine woods of the Borjomi Plateau…

This large church, now part of a nunnery, was built in the 1130s. King Mirian and Queen Nana are buried in its southwest corner, under a stone canopy. The…