Church · Zugdidi, Zugdidi Municipality, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Church of the Blachernae Mother of God
ზუგდიდის ვლაქერნის ღმრთისმშობლის ხატის საკათედრო ტაძარი · Zugdidi Blachernae Cathedral · Vlakherna Church, Zugdidi
The cathedral church at the entrance to the Dadiani palace grounds in Zugdidi, dedicated to the Blachernae icon of the Mother of God and the focus of the city's Vlakernoba feast every July.
Where it is
42.5122, 41.8747
Why go
Come on 15 July if you can. On Vlakernoba the robe venerated as the Virgin's, normally held in the Dadiani Palaces Museum, is carried from the palace to this church, and Orthodox believers arrive from other countries to pay their respects. On other days it is a working cathedral at the gate of the palace complex, a modest stop between the museum and the botanical garden rather than a destination in its own right.
Near Church of the Blachernae Mother of God
Museum
Dadiani Palaces Historical and Architectural Museum
The former residence of the Dadiani rulers of Samegrelo in central Zugdidi: two palaces opened as a museum in 1921, with collections of Christian art, archaeology and manuscripts and a set of Napoleon memorabilia.
0 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Church
Tsalenjikha Cathedral
A cross-domed stone cathedral in the Samegrelo town of Tsalenjikha, painted inside by Manuel Eugenicos, a master from Constantinople invited by the ruler Vamek I Dadiani, who reigned 1384–1396.
20 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Khobi Monastery
Also known as Nojikhevi Monastery, this 13th–14th-century complex just north of the town of Khobi kept a robe venerated as the Virgin Mary's in a silver reliquary until Soviet rule, after which its relics went to the museum in Zugdidi.
20 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Nokalakevi
The ruined fortified town of Tsikhegoji, called Archaeopolis by Byzantine writers, in a loop of the Tekhuri river in Samegrelo; now a museum-reserve with walls, Roman-style baths and a 6th-century church.
31 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ