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Photo: I kynitsky, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
The historic highest point of the city. Now beautifully renovated, including a hotel and an old mosque. Also contains a history museum. Unfortunately Georgia now also started with double pricing. .
Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) Castle is a medieval fortress built in the 9th century under the name "Lomsia Castle" in the city of Akhaltsikhe in southern Georgia, recently reconstructed. One of the main attractions of the Samtskhe-Javakheti region along with Vardzia.
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The monastery was established in the tenth century, but the principal church, St. Sabas, was built sometime in the thirteenth century. Until the twentieth century, the monastery had been perfectly preserved, as its hidden location saved it from Ottoman discovery throughout the empire's three-century long control of southwestern Georgia. Alas, the Soviets found it, and abused it in the usual soulless fashion, albeit not to the same extent as many other Georgian Orthodox establishments—the frescoed walls were not whitewashed, and remain in good condition (especially following restoration). During a visit, make sure to climb up the nearby slopes towards a rocky outcropping to get lovely views over the monastery and the valleys in the distance. Also make sure not to use flash photography in the churches, unless you want to see some seriously angry monks. If you can make yourself understood, you can overnight in the monastery's chambers.