The frescoes
14th to 17th centuries, with princely portraits.
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Martvili Monastery, long known as Chkondidi, crowns the highest hill above Martvili, in Samegrelo, western Georgia. Within its walls stands the domed Cathedral of the Dormition, first built in the seventh century and rebuilt in the tenth, when it became the seat of the bishops of Chkondidi. A listed national monument, it is a working monastery again. Tradition says a giant oak worshipped as a fertility idol stood here; Chkondidi is usually read as great oak. Legend adds that it was felled when the Apostle Andrew preached here; the altar stands over its roots. The church was modelled on Jvari at Mtskheta and rebuilt after invasions by George II, a 10th-century king of western Georgia. Monks here copied and translated books; after the Soviet-era closure, monks and nuns returned in 1998. Carved biblical friezes, among them Daniel in the lions' den, run along the façades. Inside are 14th-, 16th- and 17th-century frescoes, including portraits of the local princes who paid for them. North of the cathedral stands the Chikvani family's small church; to the south-west, a tower where pillar hermits lived until the nineteenth century. A large oak shades the courtyard, with views over much of Samegrelo. Martvili is about 45 km by road from Kutaisi, roughly an hour's drive, and minibuses link the two. A winding road, poorly paved in places, climbs from the town centre; a small cable car, opened in 1985, takes about three minutes when running. Martvili Canyon lies about 6 km north and Nokalakevi's ruins 16 km west, as the crow flies.
14th to 17th centuries, with princely portraits.
Home to pillar hermits until the 19th century.
From the highest hill above Martvili.
Hilltop above central Martvili, Samegrelo
In the early 12th century King David the Builder joined the see of Chkondidi to the office of royal chancellor, making its bishop first in the kingdom after the king. The first to hold both was George of Chkondidi, the king's tutor and closest adviser.
The Georgian chronicles say King Bagrat IV was buried here in 1072, though his grave has not been identified. By the late 18th century the monastery had become the burial place of the Dadiani princes of Samegrelo; the cathedral holds the gravestones of Niko Dadiani, the last prince, buried here in 1903, and his parents David and Ekaterine.