Alaverdi St. George Cathedral 11th c. is located 18 km from the town of Telavi in the Alazani-River valley. Earliest structures of Alaverdi Monastery date back to 6th century. The present day Cathedral is part of an 11th century Georgian Orthodox monastery. The Monastery was founded by the monk Joseph [Abba] Alaverdeli, who came from Antioch and settled in Alaverdi, and then a small village and the former pagan religious center dedicated to Moon. At the beginning of 11th century, Kakhetian King Kvirike the Great built a cathedral in the place of a small church of St. George.
Alaverdi is the second tallest religious building in Georgia (up to 55 meters). It dominates the surrounding landscape in a fertile river valley against the backdrop of the Caucasus Mountains. In the basement it is a cross with three apses inscribed in a rectangle. In the western part of the building, there are galleries on the second tier of the side naves. The interior of the cathedral is extremely imposing. The fragments of wall paintings of the 9th 15th and 17th cc are cleaned under the 19th c white washed. Outside the Cathedral is devoid of embellishments. The facades have monumental blind arcades and niches for decoration, which give the entire structure an air of monumentality and solemnity. The walls are of fieldstone faced with hewn slabs of Shirimi water tuff, now badly weathered. An area enclosed by a fortified wall contains dwelling houses, the refectory of the monastery, wine cellars, baths, and other structures. The monks also make their own wine, known as Alaverdi Monastery Cellar
The characteristic features of the Kakhetian architecture with its upward aspiring tendency were reflected in Alaverdi. The decor is totally neglected. An impressive space of the interior of this church has no analogy in Georgia.