Jvari Monastery-Mtskheta-Uplistsikhe Full Day Tour

Jvari Monastery is a sixth-century Georgian Orthodox monastery near Mtskheta, eastern Georgia. Along with other historic structures of Mtskheta, it is listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Jvari is a rare case of the Early Medieval Georgian church that survived to the present day almost unchanged.

Mtskheta was founded by the ancient Meschian tribes in the 5th century BC It was the capital of the early Georgian Kingdom of Iberia from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. It was a site of early Christian activity resulting in Christianization of Iberia, where Christianity was proclaimed the state religion in 337. It remains the headquarters of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Located in Eastern Georgia, Uplistsikhe (literally “Lord’s Fortress“) is an abandoned rock-hewn town, which once has played an important role in Georgian history. The place was founded in the Late Bronze Age, around 1000 BC, and continued to be inhabited until 13th century AD. Between the 6th century BC and the 11th century AD, Uplistsikhe was one of the most important political and religious centers of pre-Christian Kartli – one of the predecessors of the Georgian state.