Poka Nunnery of St Nino

Poka sits on the north-western shore of Lake Paravani, at exactly 2,073 metres. It is one of the highest working monasteries in Georgia and probably the most exposed: there is not a tree anywhere near, only lake, grass and horizon.

Tradition connects the place with St Nino. On her way into Kartli in the 4th century she crossed the Javakheti plateau and stopped at Paravani, here on the shore. The old stone church, small and low, is tied to that tradition; it is built of the region's volcanic stone and repeats the colour of the plateau.

The nunnery was re-established in the 1990s and today is known above all for its workshops:

• Cloisonné enamel — crosses and icons made in the Georgian minankari technique, sold in Tbilisi shops as well
• Cheese and dairy — made from the milk of high-pasture herds on the plateau
• A small shop in the monastery yard where both can be bought

Most villages on this part of the plateau are Armenian-speaking, and the nunnery is one of very few Georgian Orthodox communities for many kilometres around. The lake drains south: the Paravani river joins the Mtkvari at Khertvisi, so the water passing in front of the monastery eventually runs beneath the walls of Vardzia.

The lake deserves its own look. Paravani is the largest lake in Georgia by surface area, and its shore here is almost flat, so on a windless morning water and sky run into one another with nothing to mark the join. In winter it freezes over completely.

And plainly: this is a summer place. From November to April there is snow, unrelenting wind and night temperatures approaching minus thirty. The nunnery works all year, but getting here in winter depends entirely on the weather.