Towering cathedral
From the 11th century.
Paata Vardanashvili from Tbilisi, Georgia — CC BY 2.0 · Adam Jones from Kelowna, BC, Canada — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jaba1977 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Peter from Bern, Switzerland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Donovan Driver from Texarkana, Texas, USA — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Andrzej Wójtowicz from Poznań, Poland — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Jon Gudorf Photography — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Giftzwerg 88 — CC BY-SA 4.0
A Georgian Orthodox monastery on the Alazani plain in Kakheti, crowned by the Cathedral of St George, more than fifty-five metres tall and the tallest religious building in Georgia until Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral was built in 2004. It is counted among the four great cathedrals of the Georgian Church. The monastery was founded in the sixth century by the monk Joseph of Alaverdi, one of the Syrian fathers who came from Antioch, on the site of an old pagan shrine. King Kvirike III of Kakheti built the present cathedral in the eleventh century, replacing an older church of St George, and kings and queens of Kakheti are buried there. High walls with towers surround the cathedral, along with gardens and old trees, and inside are frescoes from different periods. The monks have made wine for centuries in an old cellar dated to between the tenth and twelfth centuries, in the heart of one of the world's oldest wine regions. Every autumn a great religious festival, Alaverdoba, is held here. Entry is free and the monastery is in use, so dress modestly. It is about twenty minutes by car from Telavi and usually combined with Tsinandali and Gremi.
From the 11th century.
Wine for centuries.
Around the monastery.
Alazani valley near Telavi, Kakheti, about eighty kilometres north-west of Sighnaghi
The monks make wine under the monastery's name, sold in the region; the monastery itself is a place of worship, so ask locally where to buy and taste it.