Samtavro Monastery Women Saints and Royal Tombs
Explore Samtavro Monastery complex in Mtskheta where the tomb of Saint Nino, the woman who converted Georgia to Christianity, and the graves of King Mirian and Queen Nana make this one of the most significant pilgrimage sites in the Georgian Orthodox world.
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Monastery Entrance
Enter the Samtavro Monastery complex where the nunnery has been active for centuries, the monastic community of Georgian Orthodox nuns maintaining the sacred sites associated with Saint Nino and the first Christian royal family of Georgia.
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Transfiguration Cathedral
Visit the main Transfiguration Cathedral with its distinctive small church form rising above the site where King Mirian built the first Christian church in Georgia after his conversion by Saint Nino, the building incorporating ruins of that original 4th-century structure.
- 3
Saint Nino's Cell
See the small shrine marking the spot where Saint Nino lived in a tiny cell made of blackberry brambles, the 4th-century missionary from Cappadocia who healed Queen Nana and ultimately converted the entire kingdom of Kartli to Christianity.
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Royal Tombs
Pay respects at the tombs of King Mirian III and Queen Nana — the royal couple who embraced Christianity in 337 CE making Georgia one of the earliest Christian nations — whose graves within the monastery church are objects of veneration for Georgian pilgrims.
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Nun Gabriela's Grave
Visit the grave of Nun Gabriela, the contemporary Georgian saint known as the 'Fool for Christ' who lived in this monastery until 1995 and has been canonized, her simple grave becoming a new pilgrimage destination within this ancient sacred complex.
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Monastery Garden
Walk the monastery garden where the nuns tend orchards and vegetable plots in the tradition of monastic self-sufficiency, the peaceful enclosure providing contemplative space within the sacred complex of Mtskheta's most visited religious site.