Georgia is one of the most attractive countries we visited. Small, warm and hospitable, it is located in Caucasus mountains. It is very nice to write this article in Tbilisi – Georgia’s capital. Even though our last multicultural adventure finished a year ago, I have just found some time to write an article about it. And it is happened so that we decided to go deep into the world of kharcho, khachapuri, khinkali, beautiful mountains and caucasian hospitality again.
You’re travelling to Georgia by car? That’s cool! Roads in Georgia are good enough. Most of the points on the map are accessible both in summer and winter.
It is worth of notice that if you have visited Abkhasia or South Osetia and have their stamps inside your passport (or at least stamps from Russian border control posts located on their borders), you MUST change your passport before travelling. Also you should never tell about your travelling experience (to these places of cause) on Georgian border control posts. Visiting these places (if you travel to Abkhasia or South Osetia from Russia) is a crime in Georgia.
There is another thing to notice. If you go to Georgia through Russia by car in winter, you should care about weather conditions on a mountain pass that is located right after a border crossing (“Verkhniy Lars”, South Osetia). It is often closed after snowing. Also front wheel drive vehicles should have wheel-chains in order to get over the pass. The police won’t let you move forward without them. 4WD SUVs are more lucky – they can go as is.
As we already mentioned above, most of the roads are good. But weather conditions and land forms can cause landslips and rockfalls.
That’s what happened with us on our way to Svanetia:
Crow-bar, spade, hi-jack and winch couldn’t help us. We had to wait for 3-4 hours before a heavy tractor came and cleaned the road:
Sometimes falling rocks are not so huge and can be moved by hands:
In mountain countries, even animals have to go up for food 🙂
Georgia is famous not only by it’s beautiful nature and delicious food, it is also famous by its historical monuments and resorts.
Tbilisi
Tbilisi is a capital of Georgia. Big and beautiful city – it is worth of the separate article (read our post about Tbilisi).
For now, we will show you couple photos of Tbilisi that is beautiful not only in the morning
but also in the evening!
Mtskheta
GPS coordinates for Garmin/Navitel: N41.8422971, E44.7210488
Mtskheta is a small town near Tbilisi that you should necessarily visit! It is famous by its historical center and neighbourhoods.
Mtskheta’s sightseeings are included into UNESCO World Heritage List!
This town exists for more then 3000 years. It was even the capital of Georgia in the past!
Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is one of Mtskheta’s sightseeings. It is the oldest christian cathedral in Georgia.
This cathedral is a wonderful place. At first, it has unique architectural style. This cathedral was re-built and overbuilt several times. In fact, there are several churches under one roof. The walls of cathedral were built in a way that allowed to leave some space inside. This space could be used by priests and locals to hide during attacks and forays.
Secondly, it is considered that Jesus Christ’s tunic was buried under this cathedral. There is a legend that says that a young women asked her brothers to bring some sacred thing from Jerusalem. Her brothers brought the Christ’s tunic (it was on him before crucifixion). The women died after touching the tunic, because she was shocked by Christ’s greatness and by the cruelty of his murderers. No one could get the tunic out of her hands. The church was built on the woman’s tomb. Later this church was destroyed during one of the attacks on the city. A cedar grown on the ruins of the church. This cedar became the place of worship for many people. Later Svetitskhoveli Cathedral was built on that place (Svetitskhoveli Cathedral literally means “the Living Pillar Cathedral” – one of its pillars contains remains of that cedar).
Jvari Monastery (Monastery of Cross) is located in the neighbourhood (separate post about Jvari). It is one of the oldest Georgian monasteries (founded in VI century). It was built above the cross created by saint Nina – one of the most honoured saints in Georgia. The monastery is very attractive – it stands on the edge of scenic rock so that you can see it from everywhere.
This place is also famous because of Russian writer Lermontov. He described it in one of his poems (“The Novice” or “Mtsyri”).
Armaztsikhe – is another Mtskheta’s sightseeing that is worth visiting.
GPS coordinates for Garmin/Navitel: N41.836977, E44.721709
Armaztsikhe is one of the most important cultural monuments of Georgia. For many centuries, it was used as a residence for kings and as a fortress. It was located at the junction of the Mtkvari and the Aragvi rivers on a triangular hill called Bagineti. Armaztsikhe occupied approximately 30 ha. It was surrounded with massive defensive wall. Archeologists have found here palaces, baths and rich tombs. When the center of the country moved to Tbilisi, Armaztsikhe lost its political and strategic importance. In the 730s it was destroyed by Arab raids.
There are a lot of sacred places in Georgia. For example, the cave, located on Armaztsikhe’s territory. The cave contains the cross and several icons inside.
Bagrati Cathedral
GPS coordinates for Garmin/Navitel: N42.2796055, E42.7174187
Bagrati Cathedral (The Cathedral of Dormition) is another sightseeing of Georgia from Unesco World Heritage list. It is located in the city of Kutaisi. The cathedral was built in 1003, destroyed by turkish warriors in 1691 and reconstructed in 2012. The cathedral is very interesting. It is considered to be one of the largest cathedrals of Georgia.
Borjomi
GPS coordinates for Garmin/Navitel: N41.836101, E43.391962
You like skiing and you happened to be in Georgia in winter? You should certainly visit Borjomi and Bakuriani ski resort! As for Bakuriani, we will describe Georgian ski resorts in separate article. But Borjomi is one of the most famous mineral water trademarks in Soviet Union 🙂 Borjomi city is the origin for that mineral water!
The park is located in the center of Borjomi city.
Here you can drink mineral water right from the spring!
Upper Svanetia
GPS coordinates for Garmin/Navitel: N43.036116, E42.693708
Upper Svanetia is another wonderful place that contains unique sightseeings and a ski resort. This place (and particularly Mestia town and a ski resort) is famous by its unique buildings. Usually houses of locals are just surrounded by a garden. But some of those gardens have real towers inside! Years ago, these towers were used by people as defensive works. Nowadays, people use them as warehouses.
That’s all we have about Georgian sightseeings (we hope to visit some more in future). As for Tbilisi and Georgian ski resorts in our future articles, we’re going to tell you about them in our future articles!
Flights to Tbilisi:
Hotel prices in Tbilisi:
