Nikortsminda Cathedral

Why go

The carving is what to come for, and it rewards a slow circuit of the outside before going in. Inside, the plan is set within a hexagon with apses on five of its sides, under a dome lit by twelve windows. Wall paintings of the 16th and 17th centuries include portraits of feudal rulers, although part of the painting has been lost. An inscription on the western door records the dedication to St Nicholas, and a three-storey bell tower from the second half of the 19th century stands in the yard. The building is on Georgia's tentative list for World Heritage, and the poet Galaktion Tabidze dedicated a poem to it. It suits travellers with an eye for medieval stonework on a trip into Racha.