Likhauri Church of the Virgin

Likhauri is one of those places where the history of Guria is still on the ground rather than in a museum. The village sits in the hills south of Ozurgeti, next to Shemokmedi. There are two things here: the Church of the Virgin, and the remains of an old fortress not far above it. The church is a late medieval hall church, usually dated to the 16th or 17th century, though the site itself is older. It served as one of the family churches of the Gurieli, the princes of Guria. The building is plain: straight stone walls, narrow windows, a tiled roof. Inside, fragments of fresco survive along with several grave slabs. Worth looking at: - The west doorway surround, stone-carved, simple but precise - The altar window and its proportions, typical of western Georgian building - The view from the hill — the rolling relief of Guria, tea and hazelnut plots below The fortress remains lie above the village, hidden in trees: sections of wall and the base of a tower. They are medieval and served to control the valley. A path leads up, but there is no waymarking and summer growth hides a good deal, so it is worth asking someone in the village. An hour. Likhauri is not a place you drive from Tbilisi for on its own, but with Shemokmedi it makes one coherent half-day loop through the quietest part of Guria.

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