Churches and Monasteries

Vardzia cave town is definitely a must have tourist attraction when traveling to Republic of Georgia, located in region of Samtkshe - Javakheti in about one hour drive from Akhaltsikhe town. For years I have been reading and heard a lot of stories of this place, but first visited just at the end of 2015. I was missing a lot. We arrived here after sightseeing of Rabati castle in town of Akhatsikhe. Twilight was approaching and I was left with no options as to use best photography techniques I…

Huge was my surprise when walking from Tallinn Bus Station to the city centre I discovered an Armenian Apostolic church, surrounded by skyscrapers. Just a year ago I spent my birthday in Yerevan, Armenia. Now a year latter, seeing an Armenian Church seemed like a sign for me. I still don't know what kind of sign, but that was a great reason to photograph here. Armenian Apostolic church in Tallinn, Estonia Surrounded by skyscrapers, this Armenian church in Tallinn is almost invisible for…

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…

David Gareja Monastery complex probably is among top tourist attractions in Republic of Georgia you should visit. Located in the desert, bordering with Azerbaijan this place provides very spectacular views. Best ways to get here is either by using your own vehicle or hiring a driver or booking a trip. The monastery complex includes hundreds of cells, churches, chapels, refectories and living quarters hollowed out of the rock face. David Gareja Monastery Complex in Georgia The complex was…

If you are traveling to the region of Kakheti in Georgia and your road is leading through the Telavi town, there are a few interesting tourist sites to visit and one of them is monastery complex Akhali Shuamta.  We arrived to this site just shortly we paid a visit to another Dzveli Shuamta monastery. In fact that's a good idea to visit both monastery complexes together.  The monastery was founded in the XVI century by the king of Kakheti Leon and his wife Tinatin. Queen Tinatin was tonsured a…

If you are traveling to region of Kakheti and your road is leading through Telavi town, there are few interesting tourist sites to visit and one of them is a very old monastery complex called Dzveli Shuamta. For the first time I visited this site together vith my mom in the middle of October 2015. It was a rainy and foggy day so not very spectacular images this time, anyway Dzveli Shuamta still has one of the oldest Christian churches of Georgia – the triple-nave basilica that dates back to…

You have probably noticed Tabor Monastery of the Transformation in Tbilisi if wandered around Abanotubani district - it's the one you can see up in the hill left from Narikala. The idea to visit this site arrived for me when some of the Georgia Expat Photographer club members posted a picture of this church. I believe you can climb up here and have a lovely and a very spectacular hiking trip doing that, but for this time we opted for a more convenient way - a taxi. We took a regular street…

Motsameta monastery is one of the most spectacular sites I have visited while being living in Georgia. To get here yo will need either to own your vehicle or hire a taxi, probably there are organized tours as well heading to Motsameta monastery. I first visited this site in Spring 2015, unfortunately it was already a night and I didn't see much nor photographed anything decent here, the next time I visited Motsameta was in Autumn 2015, together with my mom, this time I was better prepared and…

Gelati monastery together with Bagrati Cathderal are one of the main sights in this region (Imereti) in Georgia. Although I have been living in Georgia since 2011, first I visited this site just in the Spring 2015 together with my dad, unfortunately it was a late evening already and I was not proficient of taking night photography (now I'm). The second time I visited Gelati monastery was together with my mom already in Autumn 2015. This time I was prepared much better and instead of just…

Tbilisi never ends to surprise (at least me). I thought I'm quite familiar with all the places in Tbilisi's Old Town, but turned out - I was wrong. It was a Halloween eve and we decided to head to Shardeni (Tbilisi Old Town) to photograph some Halloween pictures. Prior to that we went to lovely noodles place called Fire Wok on Shalva Dadiani street, and then just to randomize our route we decided to take a slight right turn on Lermontovs street, our first discoveries started already here, so I…