David Gareja Monastery, a complex of cave monasteries from the 6th century.
Pilgrimage tour to the David Gareja Monastery.
The complex of ancient Christian Georgian cave monasteries and the main religious center of Eastern Georgia from the 6th century, located 60 km southeast of Tbilisi, on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border. David Gareja is one of the oldest operating monasteries in the world. David Gareja also serves as a pilgrimage site for believers and attracts tourists with its cultural and religious significance, making it an important object of study for Georgian art and history.
The monastery is renowned for its architecture, which includes numerous churches, cells, and monastic buildings carved into the rock formations. It houses many ancient icons, relics, and medieval manuscripts, making it a vital site for Christian pilgrimage. From the monastery walls, visitors can enjoy stunning views of the mountains and surrounding nature. David Gareja is also famous for its cave monasteries, which draw the attention of tourists and researchers of Georgian history and culture.
The foundation of the monastery is attributed by church tradition to the early 6th century when the Syrian monk David Garejeli, one of the 13 Syrian Fathers, settled in a natural cave in the Gareja area in ancient Kakheti. In the same century, his disciples and followers Dodo and Lukian established two additional monasteries — Dodo Monastery (Dodos Rka) and Natlismtsemeli (John the Baptist). Information about David Garejeli and Lukian is contained in the "Life of David."
The complex of ancient Christian Georgian cave monasteries and the main religious center of Eastern Georgia from the 6th century, located 60 km southeast of Tbilisi, on the Georgian-Azerbaijani border. David Gareja is one of the oldest operating monasteries in the world. David Gareja also serves as a pilgrimage site for believers and attracts tourists with its cultural and religious significance, making it an important object of study for Georgian art and history.
The monastery is renowned for its architecture, which includes numerous churches, cells, and monastic buildings carved into the rock formations. It houses many ancient icons, relics, and medieval manuscripts, making it a vital site for Christian pilgrimage. From the monastery walls, visitors can enjoy stunning views of the mountains and surrounding nature. David Gareja is also famous for its cave monasteries, which draw the attention of tourists and researchers of Georgian history and culture.
The foundation of the monastery is attributed by church tradition to the early 6th century when the Syrian monk David Garejeli, one of the 13 Syrian Fathers, settled in a natural cave in the Gareja area in ancient Kakheti. In the same century, his disciples and followers Dodo and Lukian established two additional monasteries — Dodo Monastery (Dodos Rka) and Natlismtsemeli (John the Baptist). Information about David Garejeli and Lukian is contained in the "Life of David."
Tour duration: 2-3 days.
- David's Lavra
- Monastery of John the Baptist
- Udabno Monastery (Desert)
- Monastery of the Mother of God (Dodorka)
- Saint Nino's Monastery in Bodbe
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