Church · Tsalenjikha, Tsalenjikha Municipality, Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti
Tsalenjikha Cathedral
წალენჯიხის მაცხოვრის ფერისცვალების საკათედრო ტაძარი · Transfiguration Cathedral in Tsalenjikha · Tsalenjikha Cathedral Church of the Transfiguration of the Saviour
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.
Where it is
42.6005, 42.0817
Why go
The contrast is the point: a plain exterior, then an interior covered in painting. Inscriptions name the Constantinople painter and the ruler who invited him, and the painted figures include family portraits of Samegrelo's ruling house alongside the religious scenes. Outside, look for the tunnel that runs west from the church and for the old foundations of the fence, which indicate that a fortress stood here before the cathedral; the complex also includes a bell tower. The church was closed for about 70 years in the Soviet period and services resumed in 1988. It suits travellers interested in medieval wall painting from the school of Constantinople.
Near Tsalenjikha Cathedral
Church
Church of the Blachernae Mother of God
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.
20 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
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.
20 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Lake
Tobavarchkhili Lake
A glacial lake at 2,650 metres on the south side of the Egrisi range in Samegrelo, also called Silver Lake, at the centre of a cluster of smaller alpine lakes.
24 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.
29 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ