Vineyards in Tuscany, Italy

3 February, 2016 | | 2 seen

If there are a thousands things to see before we die - I believe to see vineyards in Tuscany are among them. At the end of December 2015, we traveled around region of Tuscany in Italy and to memorize those fascinating places I created a few panorama photos. Vineyards in Tuscany - Piece of Life.

Vineyards in Tuscany

It is amazing to observe how using a simple DSLR camera with kit lens I figured out to create a panorama photo here (stitching together some 6 photos). I believe it is all about experiment and never stop, so even when in travels you can end with a decent looking final images.

Panorama photo of vineyards in Tuscany

Vineyards in Winter in Tuscany, Italy

I believe in Summer when those vineyards are actually flourishing it is 100% better here

Road and vineyards in Tuscany, Italy

View to Italian town from distance in Tuscany

Vineyards in Tuscany region

'I Fossi' Restaurant in San Gimignano, Italy

2 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 6 seen

I Fossi is a small roadside restaurant located in San Gimignano town in Italy. We arrived here just shortly we paid a visit to the Leaning tower of Pisa.

We made a stop here by chance, just because noticed there is one free parking spot available. Unfortunately we managed to order just two cappuccinos and noticed there is a queue with cars on the nearby street, some lady had arrived to the hotel (turns out there is a hotel as well at this place) and waited to park her car. I told her, could she wait for some 10 minutes while we will finish our cappuccinos and then she well have a place to park her car, she was happy of such offer and agreed, so we enjoyed our 10 minutes here and headed deeper in Tuscany, but during those 10 short minutes here I asked to the restaurant staff members could I make a few photos of this place, got permission and intensively pressed shutter button on my camera. 

Roadside restaurant I Fossi in San Gimignano, Italy

Would you like to see how a roadside restaurant looks in Republic of Georgia? Take a look: Roadside cafe near Surami Mountain Pass

I Fossi restaurant in San Gimignano, Italy

As you can see from blurry image above I was in rush.

Interior at i Fossi restaurant

Wide selection of drinks at i Fossi restaurant / bar

Roadside cafe near Surami Mountain Pass

2 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 15 seen

I'm not quite sure what name this pace actually wears - I started to call it Perevelnaya (From Russian: Перевальная) which in English might sound like Next to the Mountain Pass. Since this cafeteria is actually located next to the Surami mountain pass, I believe there is nothing wrong with such of interpretation by me.

This cafe is a regular stop for me, whn traveling from Tbilisi to Kutaisi by car, in most cases I'm heading to Kutaisi airport to pick up some friends or relatives who have arrived there and needs to get back to Tbilisi, it's always lovely to enjoy a cup of Turkish coffee or eat some sausages at this place.

Roadside cafe near Surami mountain pass

While it was a sunny and bright day in Tbilisi, without precipitation, it was a snow white here when we arrived (at the end of December, 2015). Actually, its not rare to observe such weather changes exactly near Surami mountain pass.

Roadside cafe near Surami mountain pass

Seems this is a popular place, even taxi's are heading here.

Simple but tasty sausage at this place

Roadside cafe near Surami pass

Cafe 'Jumis' in Skrunda

1 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 15 seen

Cafe Jumis in Skrunda was among my top dining places during Summer 2015, because of it's close location to our rural house.

Located next to the highway connecting Riga with Liepaja in Skrunda town, they serve a typical bistro food here for a very attractive prices. They definitely have the best desserts I have tried in these parts of Latvia. Banana, plum and other milkshakes just rocks here.

Cafe Jumis in Skrunda

Daily menu at Jumis cafe

Typical Latvian bistro food - boiled potatoes, cabbage salads and meat sauce

The same menu, but instead of meat sauce you can choose meatballs 

They have a free WiFi so you can check your e-mail as well (take a look in the background)

Tremendous out flake jelly

Banana milk shake

The Bottom line

When traveling to or near Skrunda, make sure you make a stop here and have a lovely Latvian style dinner.

Cafe 'Pagrabiņš' in Kuldīga

1 February, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 20 seen

If you are the lucky one and you have a chance to visit picturesque Latvian town of Kuldīga, make sure you make your dinning out at town's of of the best cafe's/ restaurant - Cafe Pagrabiņš.

• Or take a look of another Kuldīga restaurants here.

Located in the heart of Kudlīga Old town on Baznicas street, this place offers traditional Latvian cuisine for a very reasonable prices.  

Cafe Pagrabins in Kuldīga

Located next to the town square in Kuldīga, where major town events are held, like Feast in Kuldīga

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Cafe Pagrabins Logo

Interior at Pagrabiņš 

Menu at cafe Pagrabins

They have a wide selection of traditional Latvian cuisine here, prices are reasonable. 

Coffee Amerciano and additional hot milk

Traditional Latvian dessert at Cafe Pagrabins

The Bottom Line

I just love this place, and so do will you!

Check out official website of cafe Pagrabiņš: www.pagrabins.lv

Blog Traffic and Income Report for 2015 - 347,035 users / $9,819.71

31 January, 2016 | Blogging | 15 seen

This time of the year have come when I'm looking back on previous 2015 year. In today's article I will reveal some data behind the scenes - both traffic and income for whole year of 2015.

If you have been following my blog for a while, you have already probably noticed that once in a month I cover monthly traffic and income reports. Make sure you check them out. This article is a round up posts for previous twelve reports. 

This blog has gone a long way and has increased it's monthly visitor count from 19,798 in January to 43,941 users in December. November marked all times best result - more than 50,000 monthly users.

• In total this blog reached 347,035 users in 2015
• In average it is 28,920 monthly users or
• 950 daily visitors

Blog traffic report (monthly view). Data source: Google Analytics

As it happened back in 2014, the biggest traffic gains came in Q3 and Q4, with November making all times best. Page views my blog generated in 2015 reached pretty serious milestone of 0.5 millions

2015 vs 2014

I can proudly report that in 2015 my blog experienced 759% traffic gain if compared to 2014

Blog traffic 2015 vs 2014 (monthly view). Data source: Google Analytics

Both sessions and unique users are up by more than 700%, page views are up by more than 600%, but pages per session have decreased by -13.84% from 1.51 in 2014 to 1.30 in 2015. Actually this make me worried a lot, I need to figure out how to increase pages per session in 2016.

Top 10 most popular articles in 2015

In total I have written 479 articles in 2015, on average 1.3 article per day. Back in 2014 I have written in total 428 articles.Here are the top 10 that got the most page views

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In total those top 10 articles generated 44.82% of total page views on my blog. Pretty impressive number, right?

Mobile device users

The trend mobile vs desktop vs tablet still is a hot topic, I decided to see how many of visitors to my blog use mobile devices:

Mobile device users (Data Source: Google Analytics)

As you can see from image above - Desktop users still are the king for my blog making in total 63.51%, followed by mobile devices (29.46%) and tablets (7.03%). But  - percentage of desktop users are decreasing, back in 2014, there were 74.09% desktop users and just 19.26% mobile users. In 2015 desktop have lost it position for about 11%, while increased for mobiles (10%) and tablets (1%)

One thing I have noticed here - bounce rates from mobile and tablets are lower than from desktop, and pretty significant lower, the same applies for average time spent on blog.

Demographics: Age and Gender

Using Google Analytics Display features I was able to track down demographics for my blog:

Demographics: Age & Gender (Data source: Google Analytics)

According to Google Analytics my main audience are males (69.5%) in age between 25-34. I'm a male and I'm into this age category as well, so probably it's not a surmise to see your visitors being from the same category? 

Demographics: Location

The top 5 haven't changed during this year, but there are some surprises on top 10.

Demographics: Location (Data source: Google Analytics)

• Around 1/4 of my blog traffic are coming from US (22.73%), followed by UK (10.22%) and India (7.80%). Traffic from US if compared to previous year of 2014 has decreased from about 29%, while UK has increased from 8.55% and India from 7.75%.
• Just as back in the 2014, Canada is fourth (4.26%) and Georgia (country I'm living for almost 5 years) comes fifth with 4.14%
• Now there are two countries who made on TOP 10, thanks to the huge traffic surge during the year, at first traffic from Lithuania surged in January giving this country 8th place (2.04%) on top, while traffic from Turkey surged even more, giving it 6th place with 2.42%
• Germany (2.29%) , Australia (1.87%) and Spain(1.90%) also made on top.

Traffic sources

Google still dominates

Traffic Sources 2014 (Data Source: Google Analytics)

• Google sent majority of visitors (80.06%)
• Direct traffic, which I believe is a repeat visitors from Google, counts for 12.36%
• Facebook turned out to be the most successful social media site to drive traffic in 2015, desktop and mobile combined sent about 2% of traffic
• My Facebook page, sent about 0.87% of traffic
• Facebook ADS gives 0.42%
• Reddit - 0.32%
• Yahoo - 0,27%
• Twitter - 0.18%

Although its good to have a lot of traffic from Google, 80% seems too high number, I'm willing to decrease dependency on Google in 2016, by using more social media, and first which comes in mind is Facebook, although generated in total (from my Facebook page, social shares and ads) just about 3.8% of overall visits, this seems a channel worth to invest more. I will be happy seeing Facebook accounting for about 10-15% at the end of 2016.

About Blog income in 2015

As stated in the title of this article, my blog earned pretty serious $9,819.71 in 2015, which is a serious gain if compared to 2014 ($3,334.20)

• $9,819.71 is around $818.30 per month or
• $26.90 per day

Here is a breakdown by month:

• There were only two months in 2015 when income reached more than $1,000 - November and December
• Next best months were - February ($940), August ($952) and September ($951)
• Speaking of the lowest months of the year: May ($433), July ($593)

Speaking of expenses, as you can see from above table in some month they are low, while in some higher, there are even one month in 2015, when I didn't spent a dime. So what makes expenses for this blog, first of all it is hosting, I'm using Linode Virtual Private server to host this blog on, VPS come with price, and for me the price for a very long time was $40 per month, but then I added more resources, like data backups and my current price for Linode VPS is about $62.5 per month. The good news - Linode has its own referral system, where sysadmins can refer new customers using their affiliate link. I have added a few Linode guides and reviews on this blog, and that allowed me to get a free ride on Linode.

Next place where money is spent - Facebook Ads, during  2015 I played a lot with Facebook advertisements to drive traffic to my blog, thus the money spent on Facebook never exceeded more than $20 per month. I'm planing to spend a lot more on Facebook ads in 2016.

Then comes another part, which isn't directly involved in existence of this blog, but without them, this blog wouldn't be as it is now - a new DSRL camera, tripod and a new Asus laptop was the largest purchases last year.

RPM - stands for Reach per Mile or reach per 1000 page views, RPM is term used in advertising to measure efficiency for money spent (ROI) or in my case money earnt. RPM for this blog reached its highest at earning $43.79 per 1000 page views in February. Average RPM $19.27 per 1000 page views in 2015, which I believe is pretty good.

Goals/Forecasts for 2016

Before actually making any goals for 2016, I would like to discuss a little bit of my previous goals for 2015. Back in my 2014 yearly report I set two goals for this year: for traffic and for online income.

Here is what I told about traffic goals a year ago:

Just logically I have some goals to achieve in 2015. I will not be arrogant, and will set my goal pretty modest - to reach in total 150,000 unique visitors in 2015.

Now with about 350,000 unique visitors in 2015 I have more than doubled what I was looking for

About online income:

In total I would like to reach $15,000 by the end of 2015. In average it's $1,250 each month or $41.09 every day. By writing these lines these numbers sounds pretty high for me, but actually I don't think they are impossible. 

Now, that didn't happened this year, although I made a pretty impressive almost $10K in 2015, I'm still short of what I was looking for, which leads me to set goals for 2016 more carefully and more modest.

Speaking of them: In 2016 I'm looking to reach 650,000 unique visitors, which makes about 54K in month (I think very doable) and $12,000 in income ($1,000 per month) - hard but doable.

Leaning tower of Pisa in Italy

30 January, 2016 | Tourism objects | 38 seen

We all have heard about Pisa tower, I won't be too original by saying - it's that leaning tower located somewhere in Italy. 

At the end of 2015 I had a chance to visit this place second time in my lifetime (my mom, told me that I was here back in 1990 or 1991, but was so tired that refused to leave our tourist bus and took a lovely nap instead of wondering at this oblique tower).

This time I felt very energized, armored with a tripod and a lot of new photography skills I have learnt since I started digital photography school project. I experimented a lot with HDR and Panorama photography at Tower of Pisa. The result? Take a look:

Pisa tower in Italy

It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square (Piazza del Duomo) after the Cathedral and the Baptistery.

Author of this blog captured in action

Cathedral near Pisa tower

The Piazza dei Miracoli, formally known as Piazza del Duomo (Italian: Cathedral Square), is a wide walled area located in Pisa, Tuscany, Italy, recognized as an important center of European medieval art and one of the finest architectural complexes in the world. Considered a sacred area by its owner, the Catholic Church, the square is dominated by four great religious edifices: the Pisa Cathedral, the Pisa Baptistry, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Camposanto Monumentale(Monumental Cemetery). 

Leaning tower of Pisa

As you can see it is a very popular tourist spot in Italy.

There has been controversy about the real identity of the architect of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. For many years, the design was attributed to Guglielmo and Bonanno Pisano,a well-known 12th-century resident artist of Pisa, famous for his bronze casting, particularly in the Pisa Duomo. Bonanno Pisano left Pisa in 1185 for Monreale, Sicily, only to come back and die in his home town. A piece of cast with his name was discovered at the foot of the tower in 1820, but this may be related to the bronze door in the façade of the cathedral that was destroyed in 1595. However, recent studies seem to indicate Diotisalvi as the original architect due to the time of construction and affinity with other Diotisalvi works, notably the bell tower of San Nicola and the Baptistery, both in Pisa. However, he usually signed his works and there is no signature by him in the bell tower which leads to further speculation

Pisa tower in Italy

Pigeons at Pisa

About Tower of Pisa

The Leaning Tower of Pisa or simply the Tower of Pisa is the campanile, or freestanding bell tower, of the cathedral of the Italian city of Pisa, known worldwide for its unintended tilt.

It is situated behind the Cathedral and is the third oldest structure in Pisa's Cathedral Square after the Cathedral and the Baptistery. The tower's tilt began during construction, caused by an inadequate foundation on ground too soft on one side to properly support the structure's weight. The tilt increased in the decades before the structure was completed, and gradually increased until the structure was stabilized (and the tilt partially corrected) by efforts in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

The height of the tower is 55.86 metres (183.27 feet) from the ground on the low side and 56.67 metres (185.93 feet) on the high side. The width of the walls at the base is 2.44 m (8 ft 0.06 in). Its weight is estimated at 14,500 metric tons (16,000 short tons).[The tower has 296 or 294 steps; the seventh floor has two fewer steps on the north-facing staircase. Prior to restoration work performed between 1990 and 2001, the tower leaned at an angle of 5.5 degrees, but the tower now leans at about 3.99 degrees.This means that the top of the tower is displaced horizontally 3.9 metres (12 ft 10 in) from the centre.

Restaurant Antica Drogheria in Lucca, Italy

29 January, 2016 | Restaurant reviews | 14 seen

Restaurant Antica Drogheria is located in Lucca, Italy, we discovered this restaurant by accident, just shortly checked in at Albergo Celide hotel and decided to make an evening walk beyond Lucca's city wall.

And here it was - another great Italian restaurant located on  Via Elisa, 5.

Antica Drogheria in Lucca, Italy

We had to wait for about some 10 minutes to get a free table (seems this place is extremely popular), by waiting for a free place we ordered a cappuccino in the restaurant's anteroom 

Italian cappuccino 

Comes with a very low price here - just EUR 1 for a cup of cappuccino (although it's everywhere cheap in Italy)

Pizza oven

When in Italy you order pizza, right? When In Lucca, they serve pizza with prosciutto topping:

Four formage pizza topped with a lot of prosciutto 

At Antica Drogheria in Lucca

Author of this blog captured in action

The Bottom Line

Antica Drogheria is a place which will always associate me with Lucca. I haven't checked other dining places in Lucca, but I feel this is among the best for sure. Prices are medium-budget, we spent about EUR 40 here for pizza's, antipasti, cappuccino's and even pasta's. Once in Lucca, Italy - try this place, and leave me a comment afterward!

Feast in Kuldiga

28 January, 2016 | | 8 seen

A brilliant festival is held in town of Kuldiga (Western Latvia) each year just shortly after midsummer.  In today's Piece of Life photo project series I would love to share some images from Feast in Kuldiga (taken July, 2015)

Such trade fairs are pretty popular in Latvia  - visitors can buy goods from local craftsmen, artists or small producers.

Cider sold from retro car in Kuldiga

Feast in Kuldiga banner

Basket ware sold at fair

Smoked chicken 

Visitors at feast of Kuldiga on Liepajas street

Lawn mowing in the backyard territory

27 January, 2016 | Home Remodeling | 8 seen

If you have been following home remodeling series on my blog you might tell I'm starting to repeat - another article on lawn mowing? Yes, another article on that. 

After trying mowing grass with a scythe I just understood how hard it actually is and started to look for some more serious tools, and then trimmer replaced scythe. Just after some month I realized the grass is back, and I was left with no option as to loan a trimmer again, this time a petrol Stiga trimmer from a good friend.

Grown grass at the backyard

Its hard to call it a lawn yet, it is actually a ground elder (Aegopodium podagraria)

Aegopodium podagraria L. commonly called ground elder, herb gerard, bishop's weed, goutweed, gout wort, and snow-in-the-mountain, and sometimes called English masterwort, and wild masterwort, is a perennial plant in the carrot family (Apiaceae) that grows in shady places. The name "ground elder" comes from the superficial similarity of its leaves and flowers to those of elder (Sambucus), which is unrelated. It is the type species of the genus Aegopodium. This species is native to Eurasia, and has been introduced around the world as an ornamental plant, where it occasionally poses an ecological threat as an invasive exotic plant.

Stiga petrol trimmer

String head for trimmer

I was using 4mm string here, although professional trimmer guys suggested to use 2.5mm string for this trimmer head. Never argue with trimmer guys.

Lawn mowing with a trimmer

I was able to trim this area of grass in some 15 minutes (pretty tall grass)

Even taller grass

I''m speaking of about 2 meters tall (overgrown) grass - thistle

Thistle is the common name of a group of flowering plants characterized by leaves with sharp prickles on the margins, mostly in the family Asteraceae. Prickles often occur all over the plant – on surfaces such as those of the stem and flat parts of leaves. These are anadaptation that protects the plant against herbivorous animals, discouraging them from feeding on the plant. Typically, an involucre with a clasping shape of a cup or urn subtends each of a thistle's flowerheads.

Looks much better

Author of this blog captured in action

The bottom Line

Being a homeowner request not only to keep your house in good shape but to take care of the backyard territory as well. At the start of our home remodeling adventures I had no idea how big deal actually is a simple thing to take care of lawn (thus, at the start of this journey it was hard to call it a lawn - more a grass)

Kidobani Trading center in Tbilisi

26 January, 2016 | Shopping Venues | 91 seen

When something from your home appliance or electronics are broke and you think you could fix it by your own - Kidobani trading center in Tbilisi is a great place to find those small details you are looking for.

Kidobani trading center is located between Tbilisi Railway station and Dinamo arena, next to the Dezerteer Bazaar.

I have bought here replacement battery for a laptop, twice a tap nozzle and some plumbing insulation. I have bought here screwdrivers, screws, pliers and many other... also we bought here two mountain bikes at the end of 2013. Read more: First Ride.

Recently I headed here just for another tap nozzle (got if for 7 GEL) and decided - Kidobani trading center is worth to mention in my Living in Georgia post series.

• Read more:Shopping in Tbilisi

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Kidobani trading center in Tbilisi

A lot of cool gadgets at Kidobani 

Plumbers paradise at Kidobani

Electronics at Kidobani

Park between Dinamo arena (stadium) and Kidobani market

Postcards from Jvari Monastery

25 January, 2016 | | 5 seen

Postcards from... are actually a really cool photo project some can run, after submitting postcards from Tbilisi and postcards from Sighnaghi (both are located in wonderful Caucasian Republic of Georgia) I realized - postcards from.. are going to be more often featured on Piece of Life series photo posts. 

In today's article - let me share some postcards from Jvari monastery (again, Republic of Georgia)

Postcard from Jvari monastery

Jvari Monastery stands on the rocky mountaintop at the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, overlooking the town of Mtskheta, which was formerly the capital of the Kingdom of Iberia. Read my article about Jvari monastery

Jvari monastery

Mtkari and Aragvi river delta's at Mtskheta

Mtkari and Aragvi river delta's at Mtskheta

Tbilisi - Fairyland in Winter

24 January, 2016 | | 21 seen

It was an early morning at the end of January when my better part awakened me and told me - hey, it's snowing - it's time to make those lovely and socially sharable Tbilisi winter photos!

That's exactly we actually did - after some five minutes the coffee was served, and 10 minutes later we were already on street catching a taxi. I was so excited of seeing a snow (again, after some 3 weeks, previously I seen it back in Italy, when we did a week long trip there, and prior to that - in Gudauri, during Christmas time). I asked to the taxi driver - how is "snow" in Georgian? He replied - "Tovlis". Now, I know one more word in Georgian language.

Tbilisi Old Town with Narikala Fortress atop of it

The church in front of you is actually Armenian Orthodox church named Cathedral of Saint George, which just recently has been renovated and opened for public. (Armenian churches in Georgia are suffering a lot, read my travel notes of some abandoned Armenian church in Tbilisi - Abandoned Armenian Church in Tbilisi (Surb Nshan / St. Nikoghayos)

 Anyway we entered this church and I made a lovely interior panorama photo of it.

Altar inside Cathedral of Saint George, Tbilisi

Abanotubani sulfur bath district in Tbilisi

Want to make impressive photos from Tbilisi in Winter, when its snowing? Abanotubani district is among my favorite snow (and not only) photography in Tbilisi. Read more: Wanderings In The Tbilisi Old Town (HDR Efex Pro) 

Tbilisi in Winter - Old canal near sulfur bathhouses 

Panorama of Tbilisi Old town in Winter

In today's photo challenge I excelled my skills in HDR, panorama and even street photography (I actually did one more category - food category, while enjoying breakfasts at one of the lovely Tbilisi restaurants, but more on that in some other blog post)

Tbilisi street photography

And finally, the reason we have chosen Tbilisi as our residence 

I love Tbilisi sign in Old Town

P.S. About two years ago I reported my first snow coverage from Tbilisi, now looking on those images I can only say thanks to my better part for awakening me up at 7,6,5 or even 4 AM to support me in my 365 days photo project. Piece of Life after all!

Postcards From Sighnaghi

24 January, 2016 | | 9 seen

Signhaghi (Region of Kakheti, Republic of Georgia) has always been a special place for us to visit. Probably because it's pretty far away from nations capital Tbilisi, we have been heading rarely, but every visit here has been spectacular at least. 

• Learn more about my Travel guide to Signagi

View to Sighnaghi town

The town and its environs are also known for their landscapes and historical monuments. Sighnaghi has recently undergone a fundamental reconstruction program and has become an important center of Georgia's tourist industry.

Panorama of Sighnaghi town

Ruins in Sighnaghi

Still evening before Christmas in Sighnaghi

Georgian Orthodox church in Sighnaghi

Bodbe Monastery

23 January, 2016 | Churches and Monasteries | 188 seen

The Monastery of St. Nino at Bodbe is a Georgian Orthodox monastic complex and the seat of the Bishops of Bodbe located 2 km from the town of Sighnaghi, Kakheti, Georgia. Originally built in the 9th century, it has been significantly remodeled, especially in the 17th century.

The monastery now functions as a nunnery and is one of the major pilgrimage sites in Georgia, due to its association with St. Nino, the 4th-century female evangelist of Georgians, whose relics are shrined there.

When traveling to Signagi in the region of Kakheti you will most probably be taken to the Bodbe monastery located some 3 km from the city. I first visited this monastery complex back in 2011 and huge was my surprise when I visited this place again a few years latter and noticed a completely new cathedral being built. Georgia never ends to surprise!

Bodbe monastery complex near Sighnaghi

The church tower is so huge, that I couldn't fit it into 18mm lens photography (I believe it's a good reason to invest in a wide angle lens)

The extant church – a three-nave basilica with three protruding apses – was originally built between the 9th and 11th centuries, but has been significantly modified since then. Both exterior and interior walls have been plastered and bear the traces of restoration carried out in the 17th and 19th centuries. It consists of a small hall church with an apse built over St. Nino’s grave that is integrated into a larger aisled basilica. A free-standing three-storey bell-tower was erected between 1862 and 1885. Part of the 17th-century wall surrounding the basilica was demolished and the earlier original one restored in 2003.

Some 3 km from the convent, a small Chapel of St. Zabulon and St. Sosana was constructed, in the 1990s, to house a St. Nino’s Spring, which, according to a local legend, emerged through Nino’s prayers and is believed to have a healing power.

View to Caucasus Mountains from Bodbe monastery

The Bodbe Monastery is nested among tall Cypress trees on a steep hillside overlooking the Alazani Valley, where it commands views of the Greater Caucasus mountains.

History of Bodbe monastery

According to Georgian tradition, St. Nino, having witnessed the conversion of Georgians to the Christian faith, withdrew to the Bodbe gorge, in Kakheti, where she died c. 338-340. At the behest of King Mirian III (r. 284-361), a small monastery was built at the place where Nino was buried. The monastery gained particular prominence in the late Middle Ages. It was particularly favored by the kings of Kakheti who made choice of the monastery as the place of their coronation. Pillaged by the troops of Shah Abbas I of Persia in 1615, the Bodbe monastery was restored by King Teimuraz I of Kakheti (r. 1605-1648). With the revival of monastic life in Bodbe, a theological school was opened. The monastery also operated one of the largest depositories of religious books in Georgia and was home to several religious writers and scribes.

After the annexation of Georgia by the Russian Empire (1801), the Bodbe monastery continued to flourish under MetropolitanJohn Maqashvili and enjoyed the patronage of Tsar Alexander I of Russia. In 1823, the monastery was repaired and adorned with murals. Upon John’s death in 1837, the Russian Orthodox exarchate active in Georgia since 1810 abolished the convent and converted it into a parish church. In the following decades, the monastery went into disrepair, but, in the 1860s,Archimandrite Macarius (Batatashvili) began to restore the monastery and established a chanting school. The chapel housing St. Nino’s relics were refurbished by Mikhail Sabinin in the 1880s. In 1889, Bodbe was visited by Tsar Alexander III of Russia who decreed to open a nunnery there. The resurrected convent also operated a school where needlework and painting was taught.

In 1924, the Soviet government closed down the monastery and converted it into a hospital. In 1991, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Bodbe monastery was resumed as a convent. The restoration works were carried out between 1990 and 2000 and resumed in 2003.