The Gelati Monastery complex, about 11 km northeast of Kutaisi, is the finest expression of the Georgian medieval golden age. Founded in 1106 by King David the Builder, it served as the royal monastery and burial place of the Georgian kings, and its surviving mosaics and frescoes are among the most remarkable in the Caucasus.
The Cathedral of the Virgin, the main church, contains a 12th-century mosaic in the apse depicting the Theotokos — formal, Byzantine in style, and extraordinarily well preserved. The surrounding churches and the academy building (the oldest surviving medieval Georgian academy) are linked by a cloister that gives the whole complex a contemplative coherence.
Gelati is a working monastery and religious site; visitors should dress modestly and behave accordingly. The approach road winds through chestnut and oak forest. Most visitors combine it with the nearby Motsameta Monastery in a half-day excursion from Kutaisi.