Tsachkhuri

From Salkhino we drive a few kilometres farther up into the hills to the tiny church and monastery at Tsachkhuri. “On a clear day from up here you can see all of Samegrelo,” says Zaza Gagua of Vino M’ARTville as we scan the view down towards the sea, “and it was all once a tea-growing area. This is a very strong place, with a stong legend. Each Easter Tuesday people from all over Georgia who can’t have children bring cradles up to this monastery and pray here, in the hope of being able to conceive. The whole village opens its doors and five to ten thousand people come and are welcomed.”