Discover David Gareja Monastery

In the 6th century, thirteen monks journeyed from Mesopotamia to the Christian kingdom of Georgia on a mission to strengthen the faith. Known as the Assyrian Fathers, they established monasteries throughout the country that became crucibles of Georgian Christianity. Among them was David, who ventured into the harsh semi-desert of eastern Georgia—a landscape of parched hills and seasonal streams that seemed inhospitable to human habitation.

Yet David saw in this wilderness the perfect setting for ascetic devotion. He settled in a natural cave on the slopes of Mount Gareja, where a spring—later called ‘David’s Tears’—provided just enough water for survival. His disciples Dodo and Lukiane soon followed, founding additional hermitages: Dodo’s Rka and Natlismtsemeli (John the Baptist Monastery). Over the following centuries, the complex expanded to encompass some 21 separate monasteries with approximately 5,000 cells, churches, refectories, and living quarters carved directly from the rock.