Things to Do in Metekhi Church

Sunset from Metekhi Bridge

The bridge below the church catches golden hour well. You will see the whole fortress complex silhouetted against a sky that shifts from peach to deep purple, while swallows dive between the arches and the river mirrors it all like liquid metal.

Early morning liturgy

At 7am the church floods with chanted prayers bouncing off stone vaults, candle smoke curling through sunbeams, and the faint sweetness of beeswax mingling with candles that locals kiss before lighting.

Riverside walk to Abanotubani

The cliffside path drops from Metekhi's gate past 19th-century houses with leaning balconies, through patches of wild fig and the sulfur scent from hidden bathhouses below, ending among the brick domes of the sulfur baths where locals still scrub each other's backs.

Metekhi Plateau wine bar crawl

Tucked behind the church, a string of tiny wine bars pour amber qvevri wine into clay bowls while serving plates of sulguni that squeaks between your teeth, all set to clinking glasses and the occasional accordion drifting from the square.

Cable car over the church

The Rike Park cable car swings directly over Metekhi's dome, giving you a bird's-eye view of its cross catching sunlight while the river glints below and the Narikala fortress looms above like something from a medieval manuscript.

Avlabari neighborhood, where old Georgian women sell churchkhela from front porches and morning calls to prayer echo from the mosque

Sololaki district, crumbling Art Nouveau buildings with vine-covered courtyards five minutes above the church

Abanotubani, stay among the sulfur bath domes where streets smell faintly of eggs and massage oil

Mtatsminda, cooler air and city views, reached by funicular that rumbles past the church

Kala district - narrow lanes where wine bars occupy 18th-century caravanserais

Old Town cliff edge, guesthouses built into the rock with balconies hanging over the river