🏰 Nedzvi Monastery: Georgia's Largest Three-Church Basilica in the Nedzviskhevi Gorge
🏰 Nedzvi Monastery: The Essentials
A monument of Georgian architecture from the mid-9th century, in a wooded gorge near Borjomi. By size it's the largest known three-church basilica in Georgia, though what survives today is mostly walls.
Samtskhe-Javakheti, Borjomi municipality, in the gorge of the Nedzviskhevi, a tributary of the Mtkvari. It's roughly 10-12 km up the gorge from the settlement of Akhaldaba.
Nedzvi Monastery is a monument of Georgian architecture from the 850s, in the Borjomi municipality, in the gorge of the Nedzviskhevi river, one of the tributaries of the Mtkvari. The church is dedicated to Saint George and built as a three-church basilica. All the region's churches are gathered in the catalog on the Churches and Monasteries of Samtskhe-Javakheti page.
The main thing to know about Nedzvi: once the ruins were cleared, it emerged that this is the largest three-church basilica known in Georgia. The type itself is rare, and Nedzvi outsizes the rest of them. Below is who built the monastery and why, how it's arranged, which neighbouring churches it belongs with, and how to get there.
📜 Who Built the Monastery
Nedzvi was raised in the 850s, and its builder was Saint Theodore Nedzveli, a disciple of Saint Grigol Khandzteli. The founder's name and the name of the place are directly linked: he was called "Nedzveli" precisely after the monastery.
The context matters more than the dates here. Grigol Khandzteli was a central figure in 9th-century Georgian monasticism: after the country shook off Arab rule, he and his disciples launched a wave of monastery building, and those monasteries served as centres of learning as much as of prayer. Nedzvi belongs to that wave rather than standing on its own.
👤 The School of Grigol Khandzteli
Nedzvi is one of the monasteries built by Grigol Khandzteli's disciples in this part of Georgia. They share an architectural language: restraint, and almost no external decoration at all.
🏛️ The Architecture: What Sets Nedzvi Apart
Through the 20th century the monastery lay in ruins, and its original form was impossible to make out. That changed after the monument was cleared in 1948 and 1962: the church's original plan came to light, and it became clear that Nedzvi is the largest of the known three-church basilicas in Georgia.
A three-church basilica is a type in which three separate church spaces are brought together under one roof, without the shared arcades linking them that an ordinary basilica has. At Nedzvi the longitudinal walls of the middle church are articulated with stepped pilasters and arches, the eastern apse has a rectangular niche on either side, and the western one has semicircular exedras. There were three entrances, on different sides, and the lateral rectangular churches were linked to each other by passages from the west.
From the outside the church is deliberately plain: no carving, no ornament on the facades. That isn't poverty but a choice made by the school its builder belonged to. Set it beside a later Georgian church such as Nikortsminda and the difference is obvious: there the stone is covered in carving, here only volume and proportion do the work.
⛪ Three Monasteries of One Circle
Nedzvi is more interesting seen alongside its two neighbours than on its own. All three were built by disciples of Grigol Khandzteli, in one style and at roughly the same time, and all three stand in or near the Borjomi gorge.
Of the three, the best preserved is the Green Monastery at Chitakhevi: it's active, a proper road leads to it, and it's the easiest to reach. We covered the third church of the circle in our piece on the Likani Church of the Holy Virgin Mary, and the settlement itself in the article on Likani. Against that, Nedzvi is the option for those willing to travel further and look at ruins rather than a restored church.
⚠️ The Monastery and the Reserve: Don't Mix Them Up
Two different places in Georgia carry the name Nedzvi, and searches constantly conflate them.
Nedzvi Monastery is the 9th-century church in the Nedzviskhevi gorge, the subject of this article. The Nedzvi Managed Reserve is a protected natural area, which we covered in our piece on Nedzvi and Chachuna. If it was a nature route you were after rather than architecture, that's where to go.
🚗 How to Get to the Monastery
Your reference point is the settlement of Akhaldaba in the Borjomi municipality. From there it's about 10-12 km up the Nedzviskhevi gorge. The track is unpaved and hard going in bad weather, so you'll want an off-road vehicle or the willingness to walk; check the state of the road with locals beforehand.
The nearest town with infrastructure is Borjomi, and that's where most people start. On the way it's worth stopping at the Akhaldaba fortress, known as Tamar's fortress, and the medieval round tower of Akhaldaba. If you're planning a full day, it makes sense to add Timotesubani with its frescoes and the Church of the Dormition at Kvabiskhevi.
🧭 Where to Stay and Eat
Borjomi serves as the base: lodging, cafes and transport are all there. Below are the catalog sections for the town.
Been to Nedzvi? Leave a review on Madloba: tell us what shape the road from Akhaldaba was in, how long the trip took and what you managed to see on site. Your experience will help those going for the first time.
Information is current as of July 2026. The state of the gorge road and access to the monument change; check the situation locally before you travel.
❓ FAQ
💬 In Samtskhe-Javakheti, Borjomi municipality, in the gorge of the Nedzviskhevi, a tributary of the Mtkvari. It's about 10-12 km up the gorge from the settlement of Akhaldaba.
💬 In the 850s, the middle of the 9th century. It was built by Saint Theodore Nedzveli, a disciple of Saint Grigol Khandzteli.
💬 A type of church in which three separate church spaces are combined under one roof. There aren't many in Georgia, and Nedzvi is the largest known example.
💬 Through the 20th century the complex lay in ruins. Clearing work in 1948 and 1962 revealed the church's original plan, but what stands today is mostly walls rather than a restored working church.
💬 To Saint George. The Green Monastery at Chitakhevi, a church by the same circle of builders, carries the same dedication.
💬 They're different places with the same name. The monastery is a 9th-century architectural monument; the Nedzvi Managed Reserve is a protected natural area in the same district.
💬 About 10-12 km up the gorge from Akhaldaba on an unpaved track. You'll need an off-road vehicle or to be ready to walk, and conditions depend on the weather. Borjomi is the convenient base.
💬 The Akhaldaba fortress and tower on the way, the Green Monastery at Chitakhevi, Timotesubani with its frescoes, and the Church of the Dormition at Kvabiskhevi.
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дорога туда… угу, сложная, но это как раз то, что придаёт приключению особый шарм, правда? честно, у меня есть большое желание пробраться туда в ближайшее время. тем более, интересует, сколько времени на подъём туда потребуется для неподготовленного туриста?