Shemokmedi Monastery
The burial monastery of the Gurieli princes near Ozurgeti, with a famous history of icons and metalwork.
- Time needed
- 1 h
- From Tbilisi
- 335 km · 5:00
- Road
- Mostly paved
- Car needed
- Economy class
- Season
- All year
- Entry
- free
Shemokmedi Monastery stands on a hillside a few kilometres from Ozurgeti and is one of the principal religious centres of Guria. The complex consists of two churches and dates mainly from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, although the site was in use earlier.
Its historical importance is tied to the Gurieli, the princely house of Guria, for whom Shemokmedi served both as an episcopal seat and as a family burial place. Their donations built up the famous Shemokmedi treasury: chased icons, processional crosses and goldsmith work counted among the finest surviving examples of Georgian medieval art. Most of these objects are now kept in the treasury of the National Museum in Tbilisi and cannot be seen on site, which is worth knowing before you go.
What you will find here:
- Two stone churches in a single walled yard, with fragments of frescoes
- A bell tower and the surrounding enclosure walls
- A view over the Guria lowland from the monastery terrace
The visit is short — an hour is entirely enough. The monastery is active and ordinary parish life continues here without any tourist infrastructure, which is precisely what makes it quiet and unhurried compared with better-known Georgian monasteries.
Practical advice
This is a working monastery, so the dress code is enforced: women need a headscarf and a long skirt, men long trousers. You will not be admitted in shorts. Morning or late afternoon is better than the middle of the day, when services are often under way. Photography inside the churches is normally not allowed — ask before raising a camera. Park on the narrow area in front of the gate. There is no cafe or ATM here; the nearest are in Ozurgeti.
How to get there from Tbilisi
It is about 335 km and five hours from Tbilisi. Follow the E60 through Khashuri, the Rikoti section, Kutaisi and Samtredia, then turn toward Lanchkhuti and Ozurgeti. From Ozurgeti the monastery is only a few kilometres away: the approach is narrow asphalt, with the final stretch steep and broken in places. In dry weather an economy car manages it without difficulty, though take the last bends slowly. Fill up in Ozurgeti, since there are no fuel stations on the village road beyond it.
Click a marker for details. Coloured lines are ready-made road trips.
Nearby places
Spa resortNabeghlavi
A mineral water village in the Guria foothills — springs, a green valley and the start of the Bakhmaro road.
BeachUreki
A black magnetic-sand beach on the Guria coast — the region's best-known family summer resort.
BeachKobuleti Beach and Protected Areas
A quieter resort town north of Batumi — a long pebble beach and a rare peat bog reserve.