The place is really not very good, there is such a deception in front of the monastery, I did not even expect it. We bought olive oil, according to the seller, it is made nearby somewhere, but in fact it turned out to be sunflower, so it turns out in fact that we bought ordinary sunflower oil for 500 rubles. It is a pity that people are ready to fall into sin in such a holy place because of money.
Do not buy anything from the merchants here, they will throw noodles on your ears. all products are a complete toilet designed for lazy tourists. Just chat with them and go up further, everything is beautiful and necessary at the top. They sold me water for 50 rubles, which flows completely free at the top. Do not repeat my mistakes, I will have to walk these steps on my knees :))))
Shopping malls on the way to the monastery. The strange location of the souvenir market... People who aim at spiritual conversion go to the monastery, and on the way they are attacked by sellers. Aggressive marketing is very often used. They bought it from that one, buy it from me! In general, it's strange.
But it's useful to go there, great fitness. Which is what we were doing. By the way, the juice here is 2 times cheaper than at the waterfall. Of course, it's not natural, but it's delicious!
People do not buy anything here, there is deception all around, they bought wine and cognac, firstly, instead of wine there was a mixture of pomegranate juice, and instead of cognac there was also a mixture of alcohol, IN NO CASE DO NOT BUY ANYTHING THERE
Do not buy wine and other spirits here!!
We bought a "factory" Psou, the price attracted 250 rubles. In fact, it turned out to be either homemade wine or a mixture of juice with alcohol of a disgusting taste, although the cork and excise duty were like a factory bottle.
If it were 0, I would put -1.... It's a disgusting place. That's honest. I came to the monastery with my mother and my wife, and on the way we stopped at these Charlotans' larks. Please don't buy anything there!!!! Instead of Wine, you will be sold an IMITATION of pomegranate juice, instead of churchkhela, an incomprehensible tasteless substance that they call a "natural product without starch" Tin.... Buy everything in the duty free
All the main souvenirs were bought here: magnets, a bamboo handle , as well as a cool shoe spoon made of lacquered bamboo. The prices are reasonable, cheaper than in Sukhum by 30-50 rubles. Of course, there are a lot of alcoholic beverages in questionable plastic containers . The sellers were not too intrusive , you can find something for yourself .
An ordinary retail space with a banal set of souvenirs.
For such a spiritual and historical place, this is a big minus.
Although, in fairness, it is worth noting the rather low prices for souvenirs and other products (wine, honey)
We were here at the end of September 2022. Good shopping malls, prices are lower than in the markets of Gagra, Athos, Gudauta. We bought juices and souvenirs here
The shopping malls are very distracting from the purpose of people visiting the monastery. The wine turned out to be not Kindzmarauli, but ordinary fusel (poured into the toilet), stale churchkhela (thrown into the trash), pomegranate juice diluted concentrate (poured into the toilet). The icon saleswoman raised the prices and as a result, people silently turned around and went down (shouted something reproachfully after). The shopping malls are in the wrong place.
The prices are quite reasonable, lavrushka, sauces and dried persimmon are cheaper than on the coast. Be careful with wine and tea in a plastic container! Also, there are products in factory packages.
People don't buy wine or cognac there....in factory bottles (I don't know how homemade) everything is cheaper, but the pal is terrible, vinegar with sugar... we drank these wines in the cafe near the hotel, the taste is completely different, tart and saturated....even the color is different, they brought it with them and threw away all the bottles, it's a pity for the money spent....
The path of sinners was built by the monks of the New Athos Monastery in the 19th century. It was the road to the monastery, the way of prayer.
Currently, shopping malls occupy half of this trail. Mismatched tents do not fit well into the surrounding landscape, and annoying merchants distract people from the main thing: prayer. After finishing work, many people leave their refrigerators on overnight, and this is unsafe.
My deep conviction is that the shopping malls need to be moved to another place.
Don't mess with the hucksters! That's the only way they fool! I bought a bag of tangerines from them, they shouted that 3kg, weighed it on arrival home, it turned out to be 1.5. That's it (I don't understand what they're thinking, I won't buy anything else from them and I don't advise anyone! Another manifestation of Abkhazian "hospitality"