The Green Monastery (Mtsvane Monastery): A Forest Sanctuary Above Borjomi

The Green Monastery — Mtsvane Monasteri in Georgian, officially the Chitakhevi Church of St. George — sits in a deep forest valley about 8–10 kilometers from Borjomi, in the Samtskhe-Javakheti region of southern Georgia (the country in the South Caucasus), at the end of a road that follows a mountain stream up into the hills. It is so thoroughly embedded in its setting that, on first encounter, the line between the built and the natural is genuinely hard to read: moss covers the stone, trees press against the church, and the stream is audible from within the precinct. The name is doubly earned — for the dense, damp green of the forest around it, and for the green-hued stone the church is built from. Founded in the 9th century and carrying a profound martyrs' history, it is unlike any other religious site in the Borjomi region: a small, quiet, atmospheric place whose power comes from the meeting of ancient faith and living forest.

What is the Green Monastery?

The Green Monastery (Mtsvane Monastery), officially the Chitakhevi Church of St. George, is a small medieval Georgian Orthodox monastery in a forested gorge about 8–10 km from Borjomi, within the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Founded in the 9th century by Christopher and Theodore, disciples of St. Grigol Khandzteli, it's a modest three-nave stone basilica with a later bell tower, built of green-tinged stone and wrapped in deep Colchic forest. It's known for two things: its extraordinary natural setting, and a tragic 16th-century history — when invading forces martyred its monks, a tradition the reddish "bloody stones" in the stream are said to commemorate. Abandoned for some 200 years, it was restored and its monastic life revived in the early 2000s.

History

The monastery's origins lie in the 9th century (some sources say the 9th–10th), when its foundation is credited to Christopher and Theodore (Kristepore and Tevdore), disciples of St. Grigol Khandzteli — the towering figure of Georgian monasticism who founded numerous monasteries in the Tao-Klarjeti region. The two monks arrived in the Borjomi gorge (the historical province of Tori) around the 830s and established monastic communities here, of which the Chitakhevi foundation was one. The forested gorge — sheltered, well-watered, remote — was exactly the kind of place Georgian monks sought for the separation from secular life their calling required.

The monastery's defining moment, however, was a tragic one. In the 16th century, during the invasion of Shah Tahmasp of Persia, the monastery was captured and looted, and its monks were tortured and killed — dozens of them, by tradition. It is from this massacre that the monastery draws its deepest significance as a place of martyrdom (see below). The region then fell under Ottoman control from 1578, and the monastery was eventually abandoned in the 18th century, standing empty for roughly two hundred years. Restoration began in the late 20th century (from the late 1970s–1980s), and monastic life was revived around 2002–2003; today a small community of monks is again in residence. The complex bears the layered evidence of this long history — the 9th-century church, a bell tower of the 15th–17th centuries, fragments of fresco dated to the 12th–13th centuries, and the moss-grown older walls beside cleaner, more recent repair.

The martyrs and the "bloody stones"

The Green Monastery's most powerful and best-known feature is bound up with the 16th-century massacre. Tradition holds that the reddish-hued stones found in the bed of the Chitakhevi stream are stained with the blood of the monks killed here — the "bloody stones." They are scattered along much of the stream within the monastery grounds, and one has been brought into the church and displayed. The monks regard the stones' enduring color as miraculous, and Orthodox pilgrims come to pray among them and to honor the martyrs. By tradition, bones and remains of the slain are still occasionally found on the grounds and given proper burial by the community.

Whatever one makes of the tradition, the story gives the site a depth that its modest architecture alone would not convey: this is, for Georgian Orthodox visitors, a place of martyrdom and pilgrimage, and the quiet of the forest valley carries that weight. Visitors are asked to treat the stones and the site with the respect due a place of remembrance.

The setting

The dominant experience here is environmental as much as architectural, and anyone expecting a monument on the scale of Gelati or Bodbe will find something quite different — a modest complex whose power comes from the relationship between the human construction and the forest around it. The woodland is the Colchic mixed type of the Borjomi gorge — beech, hornbeam, chestnut, and alder, with an understory of rhododendron and ferns, sustained by the high rainfall of the Borjomi microclimate. The trees are large and the canopy dense, and the filtered, soft, occasionally shaft-like light reaching the forest floor is the kind that makes photographers slow down. (The monastery sits within the southwestern edge of the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, so the surrounding forest is protected wilderness; deer are sometimes seen, though larger wildlife is unlikely near the site.)

The mountain stream beside and through the precinct is the acoustic center of the place — its sound present on the approach road, in the grounds, and from inside the church when the door is open. Combined with birdsong and the complete absence of mechanical noise, it gives the site a genuine quietness increasingly rare within easy reach of any Georgian town. The moss-covered rocks of the streambed and walls have the luminous deep green of stream-side humid forest, softening the edges of the stone so that the built environment seems to be returning to the natural.

The complex

The main church is a three-nave basilica of rough-hewn stone in the Georgian medieval tradition, almost without decoration, its weathered, moss-covered surfaces making precise dating difficult by eye alone. The interior is simply furnished, lit largely by candles, with fragments of fresco (dated to the 12th–13th centuries) surviving in places. The atmosphere is one of accumulated devotion — the quiet of a space prayed in across centuries — rather than artistic spectacle, and the modest scale concentrates rather than disperses the spiritual quality.

A separate two-storey bell tower (15th–17th century), with a small chapel below and a belfry above, and the associated monastic buildings complete a compact complex that fits the irregular forest clearing it occupies. The stone walls and pathways are moss-covered and uneven, so walking the grounds needs the attention to footing any ancient stone surface demands. The overall impression is of a place not aggressively restored or "presented" — maintained by its small resident community with the means available to a working monastery, rather than polished into a heritage showpiece.

Getting there and visiting

Location: Near Chitakhevi village, Borjomi municipality, Samtskhe-Javakheti, southern Georgia, about 8–10 km from Borjomi, within the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park.
Getting there: By car, about 15–20 minutes from Borjomi, following the forest stream up the gorge. The final section is unpaved and can be rough after rain — a standard vehicle manages in dry conditions, but a vehicle with better ground clearance is more comfortable when wet. A taxi from Borjomi is the practical option without your own vehicle. The drive itself is lovely, the forest close on both sides and the stream alongside throughout.
Hours / admission: Open daily during daylight hours; free. As an active monastery, access may be limited during services.
Dress: Modest clothing required — shoulders and knees covered; head coverings for women are expected (wraps are often available at the entrance).
Respect: This is a place of martyrdom and pilgrimage as well as a beauty spot; please treat the church, the grounds, and the "bloody stones" accordingly, and keep noise low.
Combine with: Borjomi (the Central Park and mineral spring), the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, and the wider region — Likani, Bakuriani, and, further on, Akhaltsikhe (Rabati) and Abastumani.

The Green Monastery (Mtsvane Monastery), officially the Chitakhevi Church of St. George, is a small medieval Georgian Orthodox monastery in a forested gorge about 8–10 km from Borjomi, within the Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park. Founded in the 9th century by Christopher and Theodore, disciples of St. Grigol Khandzteli, it's a modest three-nave stone basilica with a later bell tower, built of green-tinged stone and surrounded by deep forest. It's known both for its extraordinary natural setting and for a tragic 16th-century history of martyrdom commemorated by the reddish "bloody stones" in the nearby stream.

For two reasons, and sources give both: the monastery is hidden in dense, deep-green forest in the well-watered Borjomi gorge, and the church itself is built from a green-hued stone. Together they make "green" an unusually fitting name — the natural setting and the building material echo each other. Its official name is the Chitakhevi Church of St. George, after the nearby village of Chitakhevi and the saint to whom the church is dedicated.

In the 16th century, during the invasion of Shah Tahmasp of Persia, the monastery was captured and its monks were tortured and killed. By tradition, the reddish stones in the bed of the Chitakhevi stream that runs through the grounds are stained with the blood of those martyred monks — the "bloody stones." They're found along much of the stream, one is displayed inside the church, and the monks regard their lasting color as miraculous. Orthodox pilgrims come to pray among them and honor the martyrs, so the stones and the site should be treated with respect as a place of remembrance.

It dates to the 9th century (some sources say 9th–10th), founded by two disciples of the great monastic figure St. Grigol Khandzteli. After the 16th-century massacre and the region's later fall under Ottoman control, the monastery was abandoned in the 18th century and stood empty for around 200 years. It was restored from the late 20th century, and monastic life was revived around 2002–2003 — so today it's once again an active monastery with a small resident community, alongside the medieval church, a 15th–17th-century bell tower, and fragments of 12th–13th-century frescoes.

It's about 8–10 km from Borjomi (15–20 minutes by car), reached by a road that follows a forest stream up the gorge; the final stretch is unpaved and best with a higher-clearance vehicle after rain, and a taxi from Borjomi works well if you don't have a car. Entry is free and it's open during daylight hours, though access may be limited during services. As an active monastery and a place of martyrdom and pilgrimage, dress modestly (shoulders and knees covered; head coverings for women expected) and treat the site quietly and respectfully. It pairs naturally with Borjomi's Central Park and the national park.