Alaverdi Monastery

Alaverdi cathedral was built in the first half of the eleventh century on the open plain of Kakheti with the wall of the Caucasus behind it, and at more than fifty-five metres it was the tallest church in Georgia until the Tbilisi Trinity Cathedral was consecrated in 2004. It stands inside a walled monastic enclosure with a gate, refectory and cellar, and the scale is what registers first: a very tall, very plain interior with almost no decoration, lit from the drum, so the space does the work. The monastery has made wine here since the eleventh century, and its cellar continues, fermenting in qvevri, the buried clay vessels used in Georgia for thousands of years. The autumn Alaverdoba festival is centred on the site.

History

The monastery was founded by the Assyrian monk Joseph Alaverdeli, who came from Antioch and settled at Alaverdi, then a small village and old pagan centre dedicated to the Moon, and parts of it date from the 6th century. The present Cathedral of Saint George was built in the 11th century by Kvirike III of Kakheti, replacing an older church, and at over 55 m it was the tallest religious building in Georgia until the Holy Trinity Cathedral of Tbilisi was consecrated in 2004, though it is smaller overall than Svetitskhoveli; it is counted among the four great cathedrals of the Georgian Orthodox world. The monks make their own wine in the Alaverdi Monastery Cellar, dated to between the 10th and 12th centuries (Wikipedia, Alaverdi Monastery).

Highlights

• An eleventh-century cathedral over fifty-five metres high - for centuries the tallest in the country.
• A plain, very tall interior - light from the drum in an unadorned space.
• The monastery qvevri cellar - winemaking here since the eleventh century.
• The Caucasus wall behind - the mountains beyond the plain.

When to go

April to October; September and October bring the harvest and the Alaverdoba festival. Two hours. Modest dress is required and robes are lent at the gate.

Before you go

It is a working monastery with strict dress rules and no photography inside. The cathedral has been restored repeatedly and little original painting survives. Tour groups arrive in numbers. The cellar visit needs arranging separately.

Nearby

Telavi is south-east; Ikalto lies between them.

Key facts