Martvili (Chkondidi) Monastery

Martvili Monastery stands on the hill where pagans once worshipped a giant oak — "chkoni" is Megrelian for oak, which gave the complex its second name, Chkondidi. After Christianity took hold, a church dedicated to St Andrew the First-Called rose here in the late 7th century, and in the 10th century the present domed cathedral was built.

In the Middle Ages Chkondidi was far more than a bishopric: the Chkondideli bishop doubled as the mtsignobartukhutsesi of the unified Georgian kingdom — in effect the king's first minister. Inside the cathedral survive frescoes of the 14th–17th centuries, including rare Old Testament scenes. West of the main church stands a stone pillar: tradition holds that the last stylite monk lived in a cell on top of it, a trace of the same ascetic tradition as the Katskhi Pillar.

Getting up is an attraction in itself: a Soviet-era single-cabin cable car climbs from a Martvili street to the hilltop for about a lari, the cabin itself feeling like a museum piece. From the top, the Colchis lowland stretches to the horizon. The monastery is active, entry is free, and Martvili Canyon is ten minutes away — the two pair naturally into one day.