Sighnaghi Things to Do

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Sighnaghi stands on a shelf and is surrounded by its city wall. Underneath, in the plain of the Alazani river, villages have grown almost uninterruptedly. The valley is very fertile and there is a lot of agriculture. Though, space used to build houses is not used anymore to grow crops!

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Outside the city wall stands a monument that celebrate Georgian workers. It obviously dates back from the Communist period but the style is not unpleasant.
There are four stone panels, carved on each side, which altogether makes 8 scenes of workers performing their job.

Photos 1 and 2 are general view of the monument
Photo 3 is a close-up on a scene that shows a handsome peasant harvesting corn with a scythe, framed by two young maids.
Photo 4 is a scene with another handsome peasant, leaning against an amphora of wine and harvesting grapes, again framed by two handsome maids. It seems that the carvings had once been painted but the paint has weathered and almost faded away. Though, some parts have faded away in a way that does not seem to be only weather related. I bet that it must be a local play to climb on top and to rub the breast of the girl on the left! That would explain why she is so worn out!
Photo 5 shows a couple holding grapes with a little girl standing on the right. That might be a family scene.

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photo 1 : part of the city wall and on a tower. They are in very good condition.
Photo 2 : close-up on a tower
Photo 3: One of the entrances into the city has been put down to let pass the road. It has replaced by an archway.
Photo 4 shows why it is not easy to see the city wall: shrubs grow so well that in many places, they almost hide the wall.

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Irakli II, king Kakheti and Kartli began to build the fortress in 1772. It was designed not only for the inhabitants of Sighnaghi but in case of invasion, which occurred often, to offer shelter to the inhabitants of neighboring villages. Therefore, each village contributed to its building and each of the 23 towers got the name of the village that built it. It has 6 entrances: Magharo (the main entrance), Bodbe, Mashnari, Vakiri, Zairb Khovelini, Shilda. The wall and the towers were built with pebbles and bricks

Though the city wall of Sighnaghi is 4500 meters and has 23 towers it is not easy to have a general view on it. There is a viewpoint overhanging Sighnaghi that offers this landscape but as the weather was misty and rainy (and it was late), we did not search for it. The photos give a few aspects of the city wall running from the valley to the top of the hills.

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Though Sighnaghi is a “preserved” town, all buildings are not traditional houses.
Photo 1 shows a public building in a neo-classical style. I have found later that this was the theater.
Photo 2 is a modern clock tower built in bricks and which belongs to a rather modern looking building.
Photo 3 shows a square with the statue of a priest
Photo 4 shows that pebble stones are used together with bricks for building,

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There was no time to wander in the streets but we were happy to have a look at the beautiful architecture of traditional houses in Sighnaghi. They have usually two or three levels and wide covered balconies made of chiseled wood, often painted in pale blue or grey blue.

We had left Tbilisi in the morning and had already visited Alaverdi, Ikalto, Shuamta, Telavi and Gremi. Therefore, it was late but we wanted to have a fast look at Sighnaghi, before going back to Tbilisi.
We arrived in Sighnaghi by the S5 road, as we came from Gremi. The photo shows the first sight we got from the N5 road, near Anaga

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When you go to visit Sighnaghi, don't forget to visit Bodbe Monastery, It's located very near to Sighnaghi, you can see a sign on the way to Sighnaghi.
It's a very old Monastery, on the territory of the monastery its located Saint Nino's (Enlightener of Georgia) church, her tomb is buried in church. And there also you will find steps, which take you to the saint water, which is believed that has great power for people’s health and mentality.