Akhtala Monastery

Akhtala Monastery stands on a high promontory in Lori Province, in an area once called Agarak and later Pghndzahanq, the Copper Mine. Dedicated to the Holy Mother of God, it was one of the significant spiritual and cultural centres of its time and, in the Middle Ages, a religious and educational centre for Chalcedonian Armenians under Georgian rule. Inside the monastery, the walls are entirely covered with exquisite 13th-century frescoes, an artistic legacy unique in both scope and content, showing scenes from the Old and New Testaments, the Mother of God and John the Baptist. In the courtyard, a 13th-century single-nave church with a semicircular altar has been preserved, along with the remains of residential and economic buildings, and the whole complex sits within pyramid-shaped walls dating back to the 10th century. Travellers come to Akhtala for its frescoes and for the fortified complex on the promontory. See Akhtala Monastery for yourself on a tour with ONE WAY Tour.