Day

1

Arrival to Kutaisi

Hotel Accommodation

Day

2

- Breakfast in the hotel

- Beginning of tour program

- City tour in Kutaisi – the center of Imereti region, the second largest and historically significant city, the legislative capital of Georgia and was once the main residence of Georgian kings. The excursion will start by visiting Bagrati Cathedral - Majestic in size and proportions of the temple, the cathedral became a fundamentally new word in the history of the Transcaucasian architecture. It was richly decorated with carvings and mosaics and played a crucial role in the history of medieval Georgia. The cathedral was built in 1003 and could be seen from different parts of the city. In 1994the Bagrati Cathedral was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage Site list as a single entity. If you come to visit the temple of Bagrat it is recommended to go around it and see the remains of the fortress to the east of the temple. You will see a small church thereas well as beautiful views of Rioni and Gelati Monastery in the mountains.

- Next, we will visit Motsameta monastery, famous by its legend of fulfillment of dreams and wishes. Further, we will visit Gelati Monastery and Academy, founded by the great Georgian King David IV TheBuilder, Gelati Monastery of the Virgin - the center of spiritual and scientific life of the Middle Ages and the tomb of the Georgian kings. The medieval monastery founded in 1106 and recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage in 1994.

The Gelati Monastery has 3 temples; in the center of the complex is the main and largest temple of the monastery - the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin.The Academy with only outer walls and the entrance preserved is located in the west of Cathedral’s central building. According to the legend, David the Builder ordered to bury himself in a passageway in Gelati, according to affirmed the opinion the tomb in the southern gate of the monastery with the following inscription on a stone slab, "This is my peace forever, here will I dwell, for I have desired it," is the place of his burial.

- Prometheus Cave. The length of the cave is 1600 meters. It is an entirely new type and the most modern infrastructure in Europe arranged by the synthesis of light, music and laser show. Throughout the route stalactites and stalagmites of fantastic shapes are highlighted with myriads of lights and create a paradise for people with sensitive imagination.Four distinct layers were formed during different stages of the Earth’s development and tourists are able to journey through the historic territory by foot or in boats.You will be able to see Khvamli mountain from the cave’s territory, where Prometheus was chained according to the legend.

Trip to Adjara

Hotel Accommodation

Evening walk in Batumi

Free time

Day

3

Breakfast in the hotel

Visit to Dolphinarium (optional)

Evening walk along Batumi boulevard. Singing fountains.

Free time

Gonio Fortress - unique monument, the ruins of Apsarosskoy fortress. The fortress of the ancient period, (I-II centuries AD).

Swimming in the sea in Sarpi (a border village on the coast of the Black Sea, on the border with Turkey)

Botanicalgarden. The architectural basis of the garden was taken from the the legendarygardensof Babylon.Similarly, thespacein the gardenis dividedinto tiers, sloping down fromthe hillto the waterfront. The basis of thecapestudded withMediterranean plants and the upper part of itis splitted to the walkways.

Free time

Trip to Tbilisi

Visit to Mtskheta – ancient city, called a second Jerusalem. Jvari monastic temple immortalized by Michael Lermontov (“Mtsyri”poem) is the most ancient cult monument constructed in the beginning of Georgian Christianity in the 6th century (585-604). “At that place, where the streams, Aragvi and Kura, embracing as two sisters, flow together with a roar, there was a monastery”.

Svetitskhoveli–the most grandiosechurch buildingin Georgia, a masterpiece of architecture.

Hotel Accommodation in Tbilisi

Day

4

Tbilici City tour. Tbilisi is a mix ofquiet charmcrooked streets, terrace housesentwined withvines, old churches with tileddomes, the ruins of ancientmonasteries andtraditional Georgiancourtyardswith fancycarvedverandas. “Tbilisi has a special charm. This city is being blessed by the stars. Who once visited it knows that leave Tbilisi immutably is almost impossible” Yevgeny Yevtushenko.

Firstwewill be welcomed by the most magnificent templeof Georgia -Sameba Cathedral, which strikes by the beauty and majestyof its architecture, style andsplendor ofexternal decoration(XXIc).

Another famous monument - the temple ofTbilisiMetekhi(XII century), standingat the edge ofthe rockybanks of the Kura,served as afortress andthe residence of theGeorgian kings in the past. Ancient fortressNarikalacalled by locals "theheart and soul ofthe city."

Famoussulfur baths is a perfect place for taking memorablephotographs,locatednear thehot springscolorful orientalbaths.Poet Alexander Pushkin enjoyed them so much that he penned an epithet about them that's engraved on a dusty black and gold plaque beside the entrance.

"Since the day I was born," he wrote, "I have yet to come across anything as luxurious as the Tiflis baths." (Tiflis is the old name for Tbilisi.) We will also visit Tone - an old Bakery;ancientmosque;a modernBridge of Peace, which is the secondin the world inthe complexityof architecture;Sioni- formerCathedral founded in the VI;Anchiskhati-ancient basilicain the old town(VI cent.) and going down to the"drybridge" we will get toTbilisiMontmartre. Our next stop is going to be the Open Air Museumof Ethnographyfounded inApril 27, 1966 by the famous GeorgianethnographerGeorgiyChitaya.It is located inVake district, to the west of"Turtle Lake" (Coos TBA), andcovers an area of52hectares. The museum's collectionincludes more than8000exhibits broughtfrom all over Georgia. Actually, the houses andotherbuildings,(except for a few of them, eg.Svantowers) are originals. The museum is dividedinto 14ethnographiczones: Kartli, Samegrelo, Adjara, Abkhazia, Svaneti, Khevsureti, Kakheti, Meskheti, Javakheti, Guria, Imereti, Racha, Lechkhumi andOssetia.

In addition to thearchitectural monuments,the museum presentsethnographic materials-different kinds of tools, textiles andceramics. It has many curiousexhibits;the purpose of some of them is sometimes difficult toguess. Basilicaof Sioni(V-VIcentury) is also located there as well as a rich collection oftombstoneswith reliefs.

Free time.

Night in Tbilisi hotel

Day

5

Breakfast in the hotel

Back trip to Kutaisi

On the way: Stalin museum, whose famehas spreadfar beyondthe country.The museum consists of three blocks-the museum, the house andthe wagon.The museum buildingwas built as a historical museum during Stalin’s life. In the neighborhood, on the banks ofthe Kura River you may see the ancientfortress city ofUplistsikhe,oneof the raremonuments in the world- carved into the volcanic rockridgeKvernaki.It was first mentionedin the annals ofthe 1st centuryBC. This quaintrock citycaptivates with itsunusual appearance from a distance.

The caves and grottos,where once was seething life, shining like giantpores on the rocks. Therewere oncehugemajestichalls, temples and dwellingsconnectedwith each other, by winding streets andcorridors.It is hard to believethat thisfabulous workon the creationof acity from a rockis handmade by human beings.

Transfer to Kutaisi airport

Have a safe trip home.