Due to weather conditions, we couldn’t enjoy Nekresi’s early Georgian architecture and the views across the Alazani valley. We parked in the main parking, 1,5km from the monastery. From there, we took a shuttle (🚐 3 GEL/return) to reach the top of the steep mountain. The first church is a three-church basilica built in the 8th and 9th centuries, with a plan unique to early Georgian churches, the three naves being divided by solid walls into what are effectively three churches. Nekresi’s tiny first church (one of the earliest in Georgia, dating from the 4th century) stands in the center of the complex. Beside it stands a 9th-century bishop’s palace, complete with a wine cellar and a 16th-century tower. Immediately east is the main Church of the Assumption, another three-church basilica from the 6th to 7th centuries, with 17th-century murals adorning its smoke-blackened interior.
Parking location – Nekresi: 41.971898N 45.758938E (🚻)