Bodbe Monastery

The monastery complex sits among tall cypress trees on a steep slope with views over the Alazani Valley. The main building is the Cathedral of St. George, a 9th–11th-century three-nave basilica with brick walls and a truncated dome. Inside are frescoes, icons, and in the southeastern chapel – St. Nino's tomb: a silver sarcophagus with a jewelled turquoise cloisonné halo. The cathedral also holds the myrrh-streaming Iveron Icon of the Holy Mother – its surface bears visible scalpel cuts from the Soviet era, when it was used as an operating table in a hospital X-ray room.

Opposite the cathedral stands a three-storey 19th-century bell tower in a Russian-European style. To the right is the new Cathedral of St. Nino (2011–2019), a triconch structure architecturally echoing the Bagrati Cathedral in Kutaisi. The grounds are well-maintained: flower beds, hedges, and a vineyard. From the eastern viewing platform – a panorama of the Alazani Valley and the Caucasus range.

A staircase from the viewing platform descends to St. Nino's Holy Spring – 600 m by footpath (or 3 km by car road). At the spring is the Chapel of St. Zabulon and St. Sosana (Nino's parents), built in the 1990s, and a baptismal pool where pilgrims immerse themselves. The water is ice-cold year-round.

St. Nino's Tomb – relics of Georgia's 4th-century evangelist in a silver sarcophagus with cloisonné halo

St. George Cathedral – 9th–11th-century basilica with frescoes and the Iveron Icon of the Holy Mother

Holy Spring – a healing spring 600 m below the monastery, with a baptismal pool for pilgrims

New Cathedral – Cathedral of St. Nino (2019), triconch architecture modelled after Bagrati Cathedral

Panorama – Alazani Valley and Greater Caucasus views from the eastern terrace

Royal coronations – Kakhetian kings were crowned here during the late Middle Ages

According to Georgian tradition, St. Nino withdrew to the Bodbe gorge after witnessing Georgia's conversion to Christianity, and died there around 338–340. King Mirian III ordered a small church built over her burial site. Over the following centuries, the monastery became a religious and cultural center of Kakheti. In the late Middle Ages, the kings of the Kakhetian kingdom chose it as their coronation site. In 1615, Shah Abbas I of Persia pillaged the monastery; King Teimuraz I later restored it.

After Georgia's annexation by the Russian Empire (1801), the monastery thrived for a time. In 1837, the Russian exarchate abolished the convent and converted it to a parish church. In 1889, Tsar Alexander III decreed its reopening as a nunnery. In 1924, Soviet authorities closed the monastery and repurposed it as a hospital. Monastic life resumed in 1991. Restoration was carried out between 1990 and 2003, and the new Cathedral of St. Nino was built between 2011 and 2019.

From Sighnaghi (2 km):

– On foot – 20–25 minutes via the road through Bodbe village

– Taxi – 5–10 GEL (~$2–4), 5 minutes

From Tbilisi (112 km, 1.5–2 hours):

– Marshrutka to Sighnaghi from Samgori metro – 10 GEL (~$3.50), then walk or take a taxi

– Direct taxi – 100–150 GEL (~$35–55)

– Car rental – free parking at the monastery

– Organized tour – most Kakheti day tours include Bodbe

To the spring:

– On foot from the monastery down the staircase – 600 m, 15–20 min descent (25–30 min back up)

– By car via detour road – 3 km

Season: Year-round. Spring (April–May) – blooming gardens on the grounds. Autumn (September–October) – warm weather and grape harvest season in Kakheti.

Time of day: Morning (10:00–12:00) – fewer visitors. Afternoons see pilgrim and tour groups.

Duration: 1–1.5 hours for the monastery complex. With the spring – 2–2.5 hours.

Avoid: January 14 (St. Nino's Day) – massive pilgrim crowds. Summer weekends – tour buses from Tbilisi.