Archaeological site · Kvareli, Kvareli Municipality, Kakheti
Dolochopi Basilica
დოლოჭოპის ბაზილიკა · Dolochopi
The excavated ruins of a fifth-century three-nave basilica on the north-western edge of Kvareli, beside the Duruji River, measuring about 36 by 18 metres.
Where it is
41.9737, 45.8102
Why go
Archaeologists located the site during a 2010 survey, and a Georgian National Museum expedition excavated it between 2012 and 2015. The result is an open ruin: walls of limestone and mortar with travertine at the corners and arches, and a horseshoe-shaped apse at the sanctuary end. A large qvevri was found in the middle of the church, catacombs surround it, and in later centuries the ruin was used as a burial ground. There is no roof or interior to go into, so it rewards anyone curious about early Christian Georgia more than a general sightseer. Nekresi Monastery is about 3.5 km to the west, and the two make a natural pairing.
Near Dolochopi Basilica
Monastery
Nekresi Monastery
A monastery complex among woods at about 480 metres on the northern slope of the Gombori Ridge near Shilda, with churches built between the fourth and the eighteenth centuries.
4 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Historic site
Batonistsikhe
The walled residence of the Kakhetian kings in Telavi, with a royal palace, court churches and a royal bath enclosed by a five-metre battlemented wall.
28 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Ikalto Monastery
A monastery in Ikalto, a short drive from Telavi, founded in the sixth century by Zenon, one of the Syrian fathers, and home to a medieval academy until Shah Abbas I's army burned it in 1616.
36 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Mountain
Abano Pass
The high road pass that is the only road into Tusheti, crossed on the mountain drive from Pshaveli to Omalo and open only between late spring and autumn.
42 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ