Jvari Monastery, Georgia: UNESCO World Heritage Site

Jvari Monastery, Georgia: UNESCO World Heritage Site– the exterior

The Jvari Monastery in Mtskheta, 20 kilometres (12 miles) north of Georgia’s capital Tbilisi, is a 6th century Georgian Orthodox monastery. Since 1994, it is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is on a cliff, overlooking the city of Mtskheta and the confluence of the Mtkvari and Aragvi Rivers.

In the late Middle Ages, a stone wall and gate were erected around the site, and parts still remain.

The Jvari Monastery is built in the shape of a cross and has a four-domed tetraconch. This style served as a model for future Georgian churches.

In the wall, near an entrance, is a facade with explanatory inscriptions in Georgian Asomtavruli script.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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