New guidebook leads visitors through Georgia’s sacred places

Religious travellers visiting Georgia now have a special book to guide them through local sights and monuments representing the country’s diverse cultural legacy.

To boost religious tourism in Georgia, the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) published a catalogue detailing locations of religious importance across the country.

The 93-page catalogue Orthodox Pilgrimage to Georgia was presented officially today. The guidebook, published in Georgian, Russian and English languages, includes information on churches, frescoes and sacred items found across Georgia.

The GNTA said the book’s publication was prepared in cooperation with the Patriarchate of Georgia.

The guidebook was presented at the GNTA Information Centre in Georgia’s ancient capital Mtskheta today. Photo from the GNTA/Facebook.

The guidebook was unveiled at the GNTA information centre next to the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral in Georgia’s ancient capital Mtskheta.

In it, readers can find stories on monasteries from all regions of Georgia as well as ancient cave cities like Vardzia and medieval towers found in Georgia’s mountainous towns and villages.

Stories in the book narrate about the legends of Georgia’s adoption of Christianity in the 4th Century AD and provide maps for pilgrimage destinations.

In addition, the book features a list of religious celebrations and their dates marked in the country.

The 93-page book features information on Georgia’s monasteries, frescoes and religious legends. Photo from the GNTA/Facebook.

To celebrate the release of the religious guidebook, the GNTA set up a special tour for reporters attending today’s occasion, where they were guided through various monuments in and around Mtskheta, just outside capital Tbilisi.

The tourism agency also said it was preparing to publish a catalogue for Jewish visitors of Georgia.

Printed in English and Hebrew, the book will be titled Georgia for Jewish Travellersand will be released "in the near future”, the state office said.