Monastery · Zarzma, Adigeni Municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti
Zarzma Monastery
ზარზმის მონასტერი · Zarzma
A monastery in the Kvabliani valley of Samtskhe-Javakheti, named after its founder Serapion Zarzmeli, whose present church and bell tower date from the early 14th century.
Where it is
41.6797, 42.6538
Why go
The paintings inside set Zarzma apart: among them are portraits of Samtskhe nobles and 16th-century historical figures, restored together with the church and bell tower in the 20th century. Tradition holds that when pagan villagers refused to let Serapion and his brother build here, the ground moved, the rock split and floodwater swept the village away. The foundation goes back to the 9th century, though the buildings you see belong to the 14th-century rebuilding. Zarzma is a long drive from any XTOUR base, so it makes most sense for travellers already exploring Samtskhe-Javakheti.
Near Zarzma Monastery
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.
10 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Lake
Green Lake (Mtsvane Tba)
A spring-fed mountain lake at 2,058 metres in forest six kilometres from Goderdzi Pass in Khulo municipality, up to 19.4 metres deep and coloured green by the woods around it.
13 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Skhalta Monastery
A medieval hall church of dressed stone on the right bank of the Skhalta River in upper Adjara, with a seven-sided apse and fragments of late-medieval frescoes inside.
29 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Sapara 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.
33 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ