We had a further stop around midday in Mtskheta, one of the oldest cities in Georgia, a former capital of the country and holy city of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

We were dropped at a parking lot just outside the old town, to then walk through a tourist market to the main downtown attraction – the eleventh century Svetitskhoveli Cathedral (though – Christian history here goes back to the forth century). As with other churches and monasteries we had a tour around the church, to get a closer view on its architecture and its significance. Key items to mention are the baptismal font from the forth century, as well as the 17th ciborium, said to house the robe of Jesus.

Well – I by now was too churched out, my interest in churches had basically come to a limit, so did not really pay that much attention. I also was hungry, so my thoughts were more on lunch options.

Well – those options did go quickly: lunch turned into a quick snack, as we did not have the time …so a shawarma had to do.

We continued to the outskirts of town – to the Jvari Monastery, this one sitting on the top of a cliff with nice views over town and the area. I had enough of churches for the day, so decided to not go for the guided tour and to have a look around this sixth century monastery on myself instead – to then enjoy a coffee and a fresh pomegranate juice.