Why go
The Kortskheli Church of the Mother of God stands as one of the finest surviving examples of 17th-century western Georgian ecclesiastical architecture—a period when Samegrelo's nobility commissioned ambitious stone churches blending Byzantine tradition with local Megrelian craftsmanship. Built as a hall church (a single-nave form favored in western Georgia), its exterior reveals the hand of master masons at their peak: finely dressed limestone blocks, elegant blind arcading, and carved window frames that catch the low light of the Colchidian plain. Unlike the better-known royal foundations, Kortskheli preserves the intimate scale and precise technique of provincial aristocratic patronage, offering unfiltered access to a regional style rarely seen by travelers.