Little Motsameta sits on a spectacular clifftop promontory above a bend of the Tskhaltsitela River, 5km from Kutaisi, 1.8km off the Gelati road. The river’s name, ‘Red Water’, derives from an 8th-century Arab massacre. Among the victims were the brothers Davit and Konstantin Mkheidze, dukes of Argveti. Their bodies were thrown in the river but, the story goes, they were then miraculously brought up to the monastery site (by lions, in one common version).
The brothers' bones are kept in a side altar in the church. If you make a wish and crawl three times under it, your wish will supposedly be granted. The church itself has had its icons repainted, which has rather diminished its atmosphere; for now the main reason to come here is for the view.
