Churches and Monasteries

Martkopi monastery complex is located some 30km from Tbilisi, Georgia. This place is best reached by car, but some could get here by hiking too, see: Hiking Route in Georgia - Norio Village - Martkopi Monastery We first discovered it the end of February 2017 with one goal - to make stunning photography, as I've seen some really nice shots from this place, the truth turned out to be a little bit complicated, it took us about 5km hiking (each way) from Norio village, and once on site, I did find…

Don't be surprised of the name Katskhi, this is a church located some 2km from the famous Katskhi pillar in Georgia. The Katskhi Monastery of Nativity of the Savior, more commonly known as the Katskhi Monastery is a medieval monastery in Georgia, located in the village of Katskhi near the town of Chiatura. It was built at the behest of the Baguashi family in the period of 988–1014. The church building is noted for a hexagonal design and rich ornamentation. Closed down by the Soviet government…

Samtavisi is an eleventh-century Georgian Orthodox cathedral in eastern Georgia, in the region of Shida Kartli, some 45km from the nation’s capital Tbilisi. The cathedral is now one of the centers of the Eparchy of Samtavisi and Gori of the Georgian Orthodox Church. We discovered this church during our recent trip to town of Chiatura. My driver told me, this church seems to him as a copy of Kashveti church in Tbilisi. Although, recently Mikheil contacted me and told following: Actually, it…

Gergeti Trinity Church is a must have to visit destination in Georgia. The church is located at an elevation of 2170 meters, under Mount Kazbegi some 160 km North from nations capital Tbilisi. I have visited Gergeti church for some 3 times during my stay in Georgia, and always have hired either Jeep (Lada Niva) or Delica cars to get to the final destination. Let me explain - the road until the Gergeti village is pretty fair, but from the village there is a really bad road heading up to the…

Green Monastery (The Chitakhevi St. George's Monastery) is located in a picturesque place in the Borjomi valley. People called it lovingly “The Green Monastery”, because all the trees in the valley are of a special green color. The stones, with which the church is built, are also green, but some are dark and some are light. I have visited Green monastery few times, and always have messed up with good photography - last time I visited it (October, 2016) - I was too lazy to switch lenses and…

This church is located in the town of Mosėdis, Lithuania. St. Michael Archangel Church represents late Baroque style. I visited this church in frames of my three days birthday trip across Lithuania (For the third year in a row I have a tradition to greet my birthday abroad in some country's capital, this year it was turn for Vilnius. Although Lithuania is already featured to my blog already with few interesting tourism objects - at the end of this trip I hope to supplement my collections list…

Geghard is a medieval monastery in the Kotayk province of Armenia, being partially carved out of the adjacent mountain, surrounded by cliffs. It is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  I first heard about this monastery in some Travel Channel series on Armenia, I remember I was surprised when journalist told that this church is actually cut into the rock. At start of the March (2016) I visited Armenia again, and this time I decided to visit some of the most interesting tourism objects in…

The Temple of Garni  is a classical Hellenistic temple in Garni, Armenia. It is perhaps the best-known structure and symbol of pre-Christian Armenia. It was probably built by king Tiridates I in the first century AD as a temple to the sun god Mihr. We visited the Temple of Garni the next morning after our beautiful visit to Khor Virap monastery complex near border of Turkey. I called to my good old friend Tom (a taxi driver) and he picked us at our Park Hotel Yerevan, and off we were for the…

The Khor Virap is an Armenian monastery located in the Ararat plain in Armenia, near the closed border with Turkey, about 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) south of Artashat, Ararat Province. The monastery was host to a theological seminary and was the residence of Armenian Catholicos. Located some 30 km from nations capital Yerevan, Khor Virap is best reached by organized tours, personal vehicle or by hiring a taxi. I have kept contacts from good old taxi driver Tom, which we met first when arranged a…

Cádiz Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Cádiz, southern Spain, and the seat of the Diocese of Cadiz y Ceuta. It was built between 1722 and 1838. The cathedral was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1931.  When visiting Cathedral of Cadiz, don't forget to climb up the bell tower and get some spectacular pictures from above, see: The Bell Tower of Cadiz Cathedral Cathedral of Cadiz The Plaza de la Catedral houses both the Cathedral and the Baroque Santiago church, built in 1635. The…