Monastery · Ghrele, Akhaltsikhe Municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti
Sapara Monastery
საფარის მონასტერი · Safara Monastery
A working monastery screened by forest and yellowish cliffs near the village of Ghrele outside Akhaltsikhe, where the domed thirteenth-century Church of St Saba stands beside a tenth-century Dormition church.
Where it is
41.6021, 43.0311
Why go
Inside St Saba's, the frescoes are the reason to make the detour; they have come through the centuries in decent condition. Around the church stand a bell tower, monks' cells and farm buildings, along with the ruined walls of a fortification and of a palace used as a residence by the Jaqelis, who ruled Samtskhe from the late thirteenth century. The name means sheltered, a fair description of a monastery hidden by forest. Closed in the Soviet period, it was revived from the 1980s and is home to a monastic community again. A sensible outing for anyone staying around Borjomi or Akhaltsikhe.
Near Sapara Monastery
Fortress
Atskuri Fortress
A cliff-top fortress over the Mtkvari at Atskuri village, long a defensive post for the Borjomi valley, with a narrow tunnel cut down to the riverbank so the garrison could reach water during sieges.
18 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Fortress
Khertvisi Fortress
A tenth-century citadel and ring of walls on a rocky cape where the Paravani meets the Mtkvari, on the valley road between Akhaltsikhe and Vardzia.
25 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Fortress
Okros Tsikhe
A medieval fortress of the Jaqeli princes on a high rocky height above the Kvabliani valley in Adigeni Municipality, its walls of roughly trimmed stone blocks stepping down the ridge on both flanks.
25 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Park
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park
A large protected area of conifer and mixed forest in the Lesser Caucasus between Borjomi and Kharagauli, crossed by marked trails with tourist shelters and campsites.
30 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ