Jvari Monastery

The first time you see Jvari Monastery is almost always from below, from the motorway that skirts Mtskheta: a silhouette of dark grey stone on a bare hill, with mountains behind. That overall image — the building on the promontory, the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers meeting below — is probably more striking than the monastery interior itself.

Getting to the top requires a drive up a winding road of about three kilometres from Mtskheta. The car park usually has taxis waiting; in summer water and souvenir vendors appear. The enclosure is small: the church takes up almost all the space inside the walls and there is little room to move when several groups arrive at once. The exterior stone is a green-grey volcanic tuff that changes colour with the light; early in the morning, before nine, it catches a warm glow that disappears as the sun rises.

The interior is austere: a dark nave with few windows, a large stone cross at the centre — from which the name Jvari, Georgian for 'cross', comes — and a few heavily deteriorated fresco fragments on the walls. Without mosaics or intact paintings, the weight of the place rests on the inscribed-cross architecture and the views from the outer terrace, which rank among the finest in the entire Mtskheta region. Entry is free; the monks accept donations.

Jvari Monastery was built in the late 6th century during the reign of King Guaram I, on the site where Saint Nino had erected a wooden cross when she brought Christianity to Georgia two centuries earlier. It is one of the earliest examples of the inscribed-cross architecture that would define medieval Georgian churches. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1994, together with the historic town of Mtskheta. In Georgia the building is considered one of the most important in the country, both for its age and for its place in the narrative of Georgian Orthodox national identity.

• Central stone cross The large cross that gives the monastery its name (Jvari means 'cross') stands at the centre of the nave and is attributed to the original 6th-century period.
• Views of the river confluence The outer edge of the enclosure offers views of the meeting of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers and of Mtskheta below; it is the most photographed spot and the one that most justifies the climb.
• Volcanic tuff exterior The outer walls with their relief decorations are visually richer than the interior. It is worth circling the entire building to see the different carvings.
• Svetitskhoveli Cathedral From Jvari you can see Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in the centre of Mtskheta; many tours combine both monuments in a half-day excursion from Tbilisi.

Jvari is about 22 km northwest of Tbilisi, near Mtskheta. Frequent marshrutkas run from Tbilisi to Mtskheta (30–40 minutes from Didube station); from Mtskheta a taxi to the monastery costs around 5–8 lari (~€1.5–3). By private car from Tbilisi it is about 25 minutes. Many tours combine Jvari with Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in a half-day trip.

March to May and September to November are the best periods, with moderate temperatures and more horizontal light than in summer. July and August the heat is intense on the shadeless promontory — up to 35 degrees — and tour groups build up at midday; arriving before nine is advisable. In winter there may be snow on the promontory, which transforms the visit, though road access can become difficult.