Ninotsminda Cathedral, Ancient Orthodox cathedral in Sagarejo Municipality, Georgia.

Ninotsminda Cathedral is an early medieval church in Sagarejo with portions of its eastern apse and western wall preserved, showing typical features of early Georgian religious architecture. The complex includes a three-story brick belltower from the 16th century that contained living quarters with fireplaces on each floor.

Ninotsminda Cathedral was built around 575, predating Jvari Monastery in Mtskheta and serving as a model for later tetraconch churches. Restoration work is recorded in the 10th and 11th centuries and again in 1671 and 1774. Earthquakes in 1824 and 1848 brought down the building, which was never rebuilt; only the eastern apse and part of the western wall stand. The stone fortification with corner towers and a crenellated wall dates from the 16th-17th centuries.

The ruined eastern apse preserves 16th-century frescoes of the Hodegetria, the Virgin pointing to the Christ child. They were badly damaged by Dagestani raiders in the 18th and 19th centuries. The complex now serves as a nunnery of the Georgian Orthodox Church, where reconstruction work is under way.

The complex stands in the village of Ninotsminda, in Sagarejo Municipality, Kakheti. The ruined cathedral, the brick belltower and the fortified wall with corner towers are all within one enclosure, so they can be seen on foot in a single visit. The site is an active nunnery of the Georgian Orthodox Church and reconstruction work is underway, so some areas may be closed.

The fortification features unusual corner towers with beehive-shaped machicolation projections, a rare architectural solution from military design. These details show how defensive structures were combined with organic forms in an inventive way.