Monastery · Ubisi, Kharagauli Municipality, Imereti
Ubisi Monastery
უბისის მონასტერი
A ninth-century monastery at Ubisi in Kharagauli municipality, pairing a hall church painted in the fourteenth century with a four-storey tower dated 1141.
Where it is
42.0997, 43.2282
Why go
The frescoes are the reason to come. They were painted in the reign of King George the Brilliant by the artist Damiane and his pupil Gerasidze, and they cover the cycle of the twelve great feasts, with the Last Supper and St George the scenes to look for. The tower behind the church deserves as much attention: its door is on the second floor, and inside are a fireplace, wall cupboards, a latrine and a balcony, the fittings of a building people lived in. Grigol Khandzteli and his students founded the monastery with King Demetre of the Apkhazians. It is a single church and tower rather than a large complex, so plan it as one stop within a wider day in Imereti.
Near Ubisi Monastery
Craft market
Shrosha Pottery Market
The roadside market of Shrosha's potters, now trading from purpose-built areas on both sides of the new East–West motorway near the village, selling hand-thrown clay pots, jugs and qvevri.
4 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.
28 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Fortress
Modinakhe Fortress
The ruins of a Tsereteli family stronghold on a limestone ridge about 700 metres above sea level over the town of Sachkhere, badly damaged by the 1991 earthquake.
31 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Cave
Navenakhevi Cave
A two-level limestone cave at Navenakhevi, Terjola municipality, where four halls joined by steps lead to a stalagnate seven metres thick that closes the cave.
34 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ