Zarzma Monastery, Virgin and Child, with angels

The Zarzma Monastery of Transfiguration is a medieval Orthodox Christian monastery located at the village of Zarzma in Samtskhe-Javakheti region, southwest Georgia. It is the complex of a series of buildings dominated by a domed church and a belfry, one of the largest in Georgia.

The earliest church on the site was probably built in the 8th century, by the monk Serapion. The extant edifice dates from the early years of the 14th century, however.

The façades of the church are richly decorated and the interior is frescoed. Apart from the religious cycles of the murals there are a series of portraits of the 14th-century Jaqeli family as well as of the historical figures of the 16th century. After the Ottoman conquest of the area later in the 16th century, the monastery was abandoned and lay in disrepair until the early 20th century, when it was reconstructed, but some of the unique characteristics of the design were lost in the process.

Currently, the monastery is functional and houses a community of Georgian monks.