Ninotsminda Cathedral

Ninotsminda is a fortified church complex in the village of the same name, on the western edge of Sagarejo, the first town on the main highway from Tbilisi into Kakheti. Its cathedral, begun around 575, is one of the earliest domed churches in Georgia, with an octagonal centre surrounded by apses and corner niches, a plan that pointed the way to Jvari and the later Georgian tetraconch churches. Earthquakes in 1824 and 1848 brought down the dome and most walls, and today the eastern apse and part of the western wall still stand.

The apse keeps damaged 16th-century frescoes of the Virgin. Beside the ruin rises a well-preserved 16th-century brick bell tower whose staggered brickwork and pointed arch show Safavid Persian influence; its lower floors were once living quarters. Walls with corner towers from the 16th and 17th centuries enclose the complex, along with a bishop's palace from 1774 to 1777. A community of nuns lives here. The site is not visible from the main road, so watch for the turning.

Medieval chronicles say King Vakhtang Gorgasali founded a bishopric here in the 5th century, near his fortress at Ujarma. The present cathedral dates from around 575 and was restored several times, including in the 10th to 11th centuries, in 1671 and in 1774. The bell tower was built in the reign of King Levan of Kakheti (1520–1574). After the earthquakes of 1824 and 1848 the cathedral was never rebuilt, and the diocese of Sagarejo and Ninotsminda was restored in 2003.