A park in Gori, the town where Joseph Stalin was born and went to school.

The large Stalin Museum is Gori's best known attraction.

A statue of the dictator is valued by the tourists to make photo with.

The house, where Stalin parents rented a single room, stands in front of the main museum building, under its own temple-like superstructure.

To one side of the museum is Stalin's train carriage, in which he traveled to Yalta in 1945 (he didn't like flying).

A Soviet-emblem decorates the bulletproof train carriage.

The Gori Fortress stands on the hill at the heart of Gori. It dates mostly from the Middle Ages, with 17th-century additions.

A lunch in a restaurant by Gori. It was the first and last time, that we got a fish for lunch. The usual meal in Georgia consisted of khachapuri (cheese pie), khinkali (dumplings) or shashlik (meat skewers).

Mtskheta has been Georgia's spiritual heart since Christianity was establish here in about 327, and holds near-mystical significance in Georgian culture.

Mtskheta had already been capitol of most of eastern Georgia from about the 3rd century BC, and remained so to the 5th century.

Mtskheta has always kept its status as a spiritual capital, and its Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is still the setting for important ceremonies of the Georgion Orthodox Church.

Svetitskhoveli Cathedral dates from the 11th century, early in the golden age of Georgian church architecture. It is a grand, and for its time, enormous, building.

Beautiful Georgian chants in the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral.

This relief in the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral brings out the necessity of the restoration in this church.

The basic stone used for the cathedral is a sandy yellow with trimmings, while for some ornaments (like the cross at the picture) red stone were used.

The Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is adorned with beautiful stone carving outside and in.

Visible for miles on its hilltop overlooking Mtskheta from the east, the Jvari Church is, for many Georgian, the holiest of holies.

The Jvari Church is a beautiful symmetrical little building and a classic of early Georgian tetraconch design. It is an ancient church: it was constructed between 585 and 604.

The Jvari Church provides spectacular views over Mtskheta and the confluence of the Aragvi and Mtkvari rivers.