Vardzia
Kutaisi
Churchkhela
Vardzia
A cave monastery carved into a cliff face in southern Georgia. Around 641 chambers across 13 levels, stretching 500 metres along the cliff face, connected by tunnels, staircases, and terraces. Wine cellars, meeting rooms, a small church still in use.
At its peak the complex housed some 2,000 monks across 19 levels. An earthquake in 1283 sheared away half the cliff. Ottoman invasions burned the manuscripts. Shepherds moved in after that, which is why many of the chambers are still blackened inside. Abandoned entirely in the 16th century, untouched until Soviet-era excavations, then the monks returned in 1988 and remain on the upper floors today.
KutaisiGeorgia's third-largest city and one of the oldest settlements in Europe, home of the Golden Fleece mythology. Compact, walkable, genuinely charming. Murals, statues, art installations, green spaces, roundabouts with fountains. Within a few hours you feel like you know your way around.
ChurchkhelaThe snack sold outside every market and tourist site, looking like badly formed candles or ugly sausages. Nuts strung on a thread, dipped repeatedly in condensed grape juice thickened with flour, dried in the sun. Think a thicker, softer fruit roll-up wrapped around nuts. Delicious. The only downside: they're sticky.
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