Before Tbilisi, there was Mtskheta. For a thousand years this small town at the meeting of two rivers was the capital of the Georgian kingdom and the place where the country accepted Christianity in the fourth century — and it has been the spiritual heart of Georgia ever since. It lies less than half an hour north of the city, and a visit there is a visit to the country's beginning.
At its centre stands Svetitskhoveli, a great cathedral first raised in the eleventh century, where Georgian kings were crowned and buried and where, by tradition, the robe of Christ lies buried beneath a pillar. The town around it is low and old, full of churches, with the rivers running past.
On the hill across the water stands Jvari, a small, austere monastery from the sixth century, one of the oldest surviving churches in the country. From its terrace the view is unforgettable: the two rivers — the clear Aragvi and the wider Mtkvari — meeting far below, with Mtskheta spread out at the join. It is among the most moving sights in Georgia, and has been for fifteen hundred years.
The two are best seen together, with Jvari saved for last. The concierge can arrange a car and driver for a half-day, ideally in the softer light of the late afternoon.
