Bolnisi Sioni
Imereti & Racha · Religion
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About Bolnisi Sioni
A late-5th-century basilica in Kvemo Kartli and one of the oldest surviving churches in Georgia. Its building inscriptions, from the 490s, are among the oldest dated texts in the Georgian script.
Travel Tips
Free; an active church, so dress modestly. Combine with Dmanisi (closed Mondays) and a German-settler wine cellar in Bolnisi or Asureti. The earliest wine residue in Georgia (about 6000 BC) comes from Gadachrili Gora and Shulaveris Gora in this region.
Tours Including Bolnisi Sioni
View All Bolnisi Sioni Tours
Georgian Wine Tour — 7 Days, Private: Kakheti & Kartli
A week following Georgian wine from Kartli to Kakheti by private car with an English-speaking driver-guide (Russian-speaking on request) who doesn't drink. You start at Château Mukhrani near Tbilisi, then spend four nights in Kakheti: the Kbilashvili qvevri makers in Vardisubani, the Tsinandali estate and its enoteca, the Twins qvevri cellar in Napareuli, the monks' cellar at Alaverdi, a family supra with a tamada, and the natural-wine cellars of Sighnaghi. Back in Tbilisi you spend an evening in the natural-wine bars, and on day six you visit the Kvemo Kartli hills south of the city, where archaeologists found Georgia's 8,000-year-old wine residue, and a cellar near Bolnisi. In September and October the trip becomes a harvest edition with a day in a family vineyard. Racha (Khvanchkara) can be added as a 2-day extension from June to October.
Georgia Archaeology Tour — 5 Days, Private: Cave Cities & Dmanisi
A private tour for travellers interested in Georgia's deep past, with time at each site. In Tbilisi you see the Georgian National Museum's archaeology collection and the gold of the Treasury. Then you head west through Mtskheta's churches to the rock-cut town of Uplistsikhe and on to Akhaltsikhe for two nights, visiting the Vardzia cave monastery with a site guide, Khertvisi fortress and Rabati Castle. The last day goes south to Dmanisi, where hominin fossils about 1.8 million years old were found, with an extended guided tour of the site. You finish at Bolnisi Sioni, one of Georgia's oldest churches, and a wine cellar in the Kvemo Kartli hills, the region where archaeologists found 8,000-year-old wine residue. Dmanisi and the National Museum are closed on Mondays, and part of Vardzia has been closed since May 2026, so we plan around both.