Church · Ateni, Gori Municipality, Shida Kartli
Ateni Sioni Church
ატენის სიონი · Ateni Sioni · Ateni Sioni Cathedral
A 7th-century church of green-grey sandstone on a cliff above terraced vineyards in the Ateni valley near Gori, built to a design that resembles Mtskheta's Jvari.
Where it is
41.9043, 44.0955
Why go
Come for the interior. The national tourism administration singles out the 11th-century frescoes of the Virgin, and inscriptions from the 9th to the 11th century survive on the walls. Outside, the setting explains the building: the church stands on a cliff edge above old vineyard terraces, and the Tana River runs through the valley below, which also holds Ateni Fortress and the Tsero church complex. The valley begins about ten kilometres from Gori, so Ateni Sioni combines naturally with Gori and the cave town of Uplistsikhe on the same day.
Base yourself nearby
city
Tbilisi
Georgia’s capital is a layered city of old balconies, sulfur baths, hillside neighborhoods, contemporary restaurants and centuries of history along the Mtkvari River.
Historic town
Mtskheta
Mtskheta was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Iberia and is the place where Georgia adopted Christianity in the fourth century. Today it is a small, walkable town twenty kilometres from Tbilisi holding Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, the hilltop church of Jvari, the working convent of Samtavro and the archaeological remains of the pre-Christian royal city, inscribed together on the UNESCO World Heritage List. It is simultaneously Georgia's most important pilgrimage destination and its most accessible serious historical site.
Near Ateni Sioni Church
Fortress
Gori Fortress
An oval citadel on a rocky hill in the middle of Gori, ringed by walls up to ten metres high and anchored on its western side by the Tskhrakara, the 'nine-door' structure.
9 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Museum
Joseph Stalin Museum
A museum complex in central Gori built around the small house where Joseph Stalin was born, with a main exhibition building opened in 1957 and his personal railway carriage displayed alongside.
9 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Uplistsikhe Cave Town
A cave town hewn into a rocky massif on the left bank of the Mtkvari east of Gori, where halls, streets and a basilica were cut straight into the living rock.
12 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Rkoni Monastery
A monastery complex of churches, towers and monks' dwellings in the upper Tedzami gorge south of Kaspi, reached over a medieval stone bridge and watched over by Rkoni Fortress on a rocky hill.
15 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ