Rkoni

Rkoni Monastery, Rkonis Monastery, Rkonis church or Rkoni is an ancient Georgian Orthodox monastery and church located in the Kaspi Municipality of the Shida Kartli province of Georgia. The monastery was built in the 7th century AD on the side of a mountain, the surrounding area is a valley with mountain chains on both sides covering most of the area which makes it hard to reach and very isolated. In the middle of the valley is the river Tedzami, since the monastery is on the left mountain chain (from a hiker's perspective) tourists have to cross the river by using the Rkoni bridge, a semicircular bridge made of stone that crosses the river onto the other mountain chain where the monastery is located. The surrounding area of the monastery is called Rkoni. Rkoni monastery is near the village of Chachubeti, 5.63 km (3.49 mi) southwest of the village and near a few other churches and monasteries like St. George church, Ikvi church, didi Ikvi St. George church and Saorbisi St. George church. In the 12th–13th centuries, important trade and military-strategic roads connected Shida Kartli with Javakheti, Trialeti and the Middle East. In 1400, Tamerlane's armies raided the village and the surrounding churches and monasteries. In the 16th–17th centuries, Rkoni was still a well-fortified place, but it was becoming empty gradually. The

Monastery data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).