Mtskheta and Jvari – Spiritual Heart of Georgia

Mtskheta is where Georgia became Christian in 337 AD, and it has never stopped being sacred. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, burial place of kings, is said to hold the robe of Christ beneath its floor; on the cliff opposite, the 6th-century Jvari Monastery looks down on the meeting of the Mtkvari and Aragvi rivers, one of the country's defining views. Both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites, twenty minutes from Tbilisi. No visit to Georgia is complete without them.

Tbilisi layers 1,500 years of history into one walkable riverside city: Persian-style bath domes, carved wooden balconies, a Soviet avenue and a glass bridge, all beneath the Narikala fortress. Sulphur springs gave the city its name and still steam in the Abanotubani district. The cable car, the flea market, the courtyard cafes and the natural-wine bars each tell a different era. Few capitals reward simple wandering so richly.