Kojori and the Suburbs

The air is cooler in the hills southwest of Tbilisi, and city dwellers were already coming here for summer dachas in the 19th century. Kojori still has old wooden dachas with carved verandas, some restored and some abandoned. The gallery includes the Dormition monastery with its belfry, a Soviet monument with bas reliefs, a terracotta tree of life on a gable, fountains and the park under snow. Nearby are Kiketi with its churches and a waterfall over shale cliffs, Tabakhmela with a new stone basilica and a forest restaurant, and Tsavkisi with its country event venues. In the Vere valley stands Betania monastery, built at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries and famous for its fresco of Queen Tamar.

Concrete village sign monument of Kojori with Soviet era bas relief panels

Abandoned carved wooden dacha with a rusty roof and glazed veranda in Kojori

Decaying blue wooden dacha with an ornate onion arch porch in Kojori

Brick church apse with a cross and tiled roof among pines in Kojori

Village park in Kojori with red benches, a playground and an old curved tree

Belfry and church of the Dormition monastery in Kojori under clear winter sky

Stone church of the Dormition monastery in Kojori standing on a green lawn

Stone faced church of the Dormition monastery in Kojori near Tbilisi

Church and monastic building of the Kojori Dormition monastery in low winter sun

Fire station building with a blue training tower in Kojori near Tbilisi

Round stone fountain basin in Kojori with a decorative relief wall behind

Turquoise round fountain basin surrounded by cedars in the centre of Kojori

Stone chapel and open belfry on a foggy hilltop in Kojori near Tbilisi

Large stone church with a domed drum and bell tower under dramatic clouds

Memorial obelisk with stone relief walls among pine trees in Kojori

Modern guest house with wooden eaves and balconies on a green lawn in Kojori

kojori-monastery-brick-Brick residential block of the Kojori Dormition monastery among tall pinesresidential-block

Concrete pylon with Georgian lettering of the Kojori village monument seen from below

Bas relief with a warrior, a lion and children on the Kojori monument

Bas relief of a woman with children on the Kojori village monument wall

Abandoned wooden dacha with a carved veranda in Kojori near Tbilisi

Frost covered pines and snowy stairways in the central park of Kojori

Terracotta relief with birds and tools in Kojori photographed from below

Large terracotta tree of life relief covering a building gable in Kojori