Timotesubani Monastery, Borjomi

Timotesubani Monastery opening hours and entrance fee

There is no entrance fee and no ticket. Candles and donations are optional and paid in cash — the church shop has no card machine. Your real cost is the taxi or marshrutka.

The monastery publishes no opening hours. In practice the grounds are open in daylight, but during the liturgy — mostly Sunday mornings and church holidays — visitors should wait outside or stand quietly at the back. To study the frescoes in peace, come on a weekday around midday, when the most light falls through the windows.

Georgia’s currency is the lari (GEL). Visa and Mastercard work in most cafés and shops in Borjomi, but marshrutkas, taxis and the monastery are cash only, so use an ATM in town before you leave. There is no café or shop by the gate — bring water and a snack.

What makes the Timotesubani frescoes special?

The paintings are the reason to come. They were done around 1205–1215 — scholars dating them by the lettering say no later than the 1220s — and they cover almost the entire interior. Few churches of Georgia’s golden age keep a cycle this complete, and you can tell several painters worked here: the style shifts noticeably from one part of the church to another.

As you step in, a large image of Christ the Saviour faces you. The Last Judgement, about 20 m², spreads across the west wall and onto its neighbours, and the Virgin looks down from the altar arch. The windows of the north wall were blocked and painted over while the church was still being built, so the scenes there run unbroken.

Damp and a leaking dome nearly finished the murals off. Between 2000 and 2006 a conservation project backed by the World Monuments Fund and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation secured the plaster and fixed the roof, windows and drainage — which is why the colours read so clearly today.

Is Timotesubani Monastery worth visiting?

Yes, if medieval painting interests you or you have more than a day in Borjomi. Nothing else near the resort keeps a fresco cycle from Queen Tamar’s time this complete: the Green Monastery has only fragments, while here nearly every wall is painted. Plan 45 minutes on site and about 2 hours in total.

Skip it if you only have half a day — the round trip eats most of it, and Borjomi Central Park is a better use of a short stay. If frescoes leave you cold, the Green Monastery is closer and simpler to reach, with the same forest calm.

What is Timotesubani Monastery?

Timotesubani is a monastery of the Virgin in the village of the same name, in the wooded valley of the Gujaretistskali river, in the historic province of Tori. Buildings went up here from the 11th to the 18th century, but the heart of it is the Church of the Dormition: a cross-in-square church with three apses, its dome resting on two free-standing pillars.

It was built in the reign of Queen Tamar on the initiative of Shalva of Akhaltsikhe (Toreli-Akhaltsikheli), military commander and lord of Tori; an inscription from the time names him as the church’s patron. The Georgian Church later made him a saint, and tradition says he is buried here — a story no document confirms.

What sets it apart is the material. Instead of the usual stone, the church is built of pale pink “Georgian” brick, with glazed azure ceramic details in the dome drum. It stands 28 m high including the cross and 19 m wide. Today it is again a working monastery with a community of monks.

What to see

• The Church of the Dormition — rose brick, a tall drum and conical dome, azure tiles below the roofline. Walk all the way round: the west and south porches were added later.
• The frescoes inside — Christ the Saviour by the entrance, the Last Judgement, the Virgin on the altar arch. Give your eyes a minute to adjust to the dim light.
• St Barbara’s basilica — a small single-nave church on the upper north terrace.
• The remains of a stone burial vault northeast of the main church.
• The arched red-brick gateway and the ruins of 10th–11th-century monastery buildings north of the church.
• The monks’ cells in the courtyard and the church shop, which sells candles and sometimes a book on the murals.
• The valley itself — especially in autumn, when the woods turn yellow and red.

Timotesubani vs the Green Monastery

The two monasteries lie on opposite sides of Borjomi, so they don’t combine into one short trip. Go to Timotesubani for the paintings; pick the Green Monastery if you want an ancient, quiet place close to town.

Churches and monasteries around Borjomi

Every place of worship around Borjomi rated by YesGo. Tap a column heading to sort.

How to do it right

• Ask your taxi to wait — there is no ride back from the monastery.
• Heading up to Bakuriani? The Tsaghveri turn-off is on the same road, so Timotesubani makes an easy detour.
• Autumn is the most photogenic season, with the valley in yellow and red.
• Get cash in Borjomi; don’t count on an ATM in Tsaghveri or at the monastery.
• Arriving by transfer from Kutaisi or Tbilisi? Timotesubani is off the main road — it is easier as a separate trip from Borjomi.
• Back in town, finish the day in the sulphur baths.

Questions