The Cave Monks of Davit Gareja

Davit Gareja is a complex of monasteries carved into a lunar ridge of sandstone on Georgia's border with Azerbaijan, founded in the 6th century by St. David Garejeli and expanded by his followers over the next thousand years. Some cells were dug as early as the 500s and others as late as the 1700s, monks still live and pray in the oldest ones at Lavra today, and the walk up to the abandoned Udabno caves remains one of the strangest, starkest landscapes in the Caucasus.

Lavra Monastery

Best for meeting living monastic tradition

Lavra is where the whole complex began and where it never really stopped. St. David Garejeli, one of the Thirteen Assyrian Fathers who brought organised Christian monasticism to Georgia in the 6th century, dug the first cells here himself, and his tomb still draws pilgrims to a small chapel behind the main church. This is the only part of Davit Gareja where the monastic life on view isn't a museum piece: a small community of monks lives and prays in cave cells stacked into the cliff, tending the courtyard and keeping the liturgy that has run, with interruptions, since the Soviet closure and later restoration. From the outside Lavra looks almost domestic — whitewashed walls, a bell tower, a walled courtyard — until you notice that half the building is not built at all but hollowed. Visitors are welcome in the lower courtyard and church; the monks' private cells are not open, and modest dress is expected as at any working Georgian monastery.

Udabno Caves

Best for the climb and the view

From Lavra's courtyard, a steep marked path climbs roughly an hour up the ridge behind the monastery to Udabno, a stretch of abandoned cells and chapels strung along the clifftop like a cliffside village with the roof torn off. There is no shade and, most of the year, no water, so this is a morning walk in comfortable shoes with a full bottle, not an afternoon stroll. The reward at the top is disorienting: on one side, the ochre folds of the Gareja semi-desert roll away toward Azerbaijan with nothing but wind for company; on the other, a wall of cells opens onto painted chambers, including a rare depiction of the Last Judgment. Because the ridge itself sits on the border, the route occasionally closes or shortens depending on the state of demarcation talks between Georgia and Azerbaijan — check locally on the day rather than assuming the top is open.

Bertubani Monastery

Best for frescoes

Bertubani sits further along the ridge from Lavra and holds some of the finest surviving fresco work in the complex, including 13th-century royal portraits from the reign of Queen Tamar — the Golden Age monarch whose patronage shaped so much of Georgia's medieval art. The Dormition scene here is painted with a confidence and colour that has faded elsewhere in Gareja, a reminder that this was never a backwater but a working centre of manuscript production and religious art with direct royal sponsorship. Access has been the complicating factor for years: Bertubani lies close to the contested border stretch, and depending on the current status of Georgian-Azerbaijani demarcation talks, the site can be open, restricted, or reachable only with an escorted tour. Ask in Tbilisi or Sagarejo before planning a special trip around it.

Dodo's Rka

Best for the earliest hermit cells

Dodo's Rka takes its name from Dodo, one of David Garejeli's own disciples, who is said to have carved this stretch of cells shortly after his teacher established Lavra — making it among the very oldest excavated sections of the whole complex. Where Lavra has been maintained and inhabited continuously, Dodo's Rka feels closer to what an unrestored 6th-century hermitage actually looked like: bare cut-stone cells, a small ancient church, and none of the polish of a working monastery. It is a shorter, gentler walk than the climb to Udabno, which makes it a good option for travellers who want the ascetic atmosphere of Gareja without the exposed cliffside scramble. Few tour groups linger here, so it is often the quietest corner of the whole site.

Natlismtsemeli Monastery

Best for solitude

Natlismtsemeli, the Monastery of St. John the Baptist, lies in a separate, more secluded ravine of the Gareja complex reached by its own rough track rather than the main Lavra path — which is exactly why it sees a fraction of the visitors the headline sites do. It grew as a satellite of Lavra during the complex's medieval expansion, when Gareja's monastic population and land holdings were at their peak, and its cave church and cells retain a stripped-back, contemplative quality precisely because so few people make the extra effort to reach them. This is the pick for travellers who found Lavra or Udabno rewarding but crowded and want the same raw geology and the same silence without another tour bus in sight. A local driver or guide familiar with the current track conditions is worth arranging before setting out.

The Gareja Ridge Border Trail

Best for landscape and photography

Beyond any single monastery, the ridge trail itself is the reason Gareja photographs the way it does: a knife-edge path along wind-scoured sandstone with Georgia falling away on one side and Azerbaijan on the other, no fence, no clear line, just a slow gradient of the same semi-desert running on regardless of the border drawn across it. Early morning or late afternoon light turns the ochre cliffs a deep rust colour that is the single most recognisable image of Davit Gareja online, and the near-total absence of vegetation means nothing blocks the view in any direction. It is also the most exposed and least forgiving stretch of the visit — no shade, uneven footing, and real summer heat — so this is a trail for sturdy shoes, sun protection, and an early start, not sandals and a midday wander.

Sabereebi Cave City

Best for extending the theme beyond Gareja

Sabereebi is a different site entirely — a cave complex cut into the limestone of the Gombori Range, well north of Gareja proper — but it belongs on this list for travellers who want more of the same instinct that built Davit Gareja: carving shelter, worship, and defence directly into a cliff. Unlike Gareja, Sabereebi has had almost no restoration or promotion, so its rock-cut chambers and passages remain genuinely unexcavated and largely unvisited, offering the same vertiginous sense of hollowed stone without the crowds, the border checkpoints, or the marked paths. It is not a substitute for Gareja's living monastic tradition or its major frescoes, but as a coda to a day built around the theme of cave-cut faith, it rewards travellers who have the extra time and don't mind a rougher, unsignposted visit.

Practical information

Davit Gareja sits roughly 90km southeast of Tbilisi; the drive takes about two hours, the last stretch on rough, partly unpaved road, so most visitors come by organised day tour, hired driver, or 4WD rather than self-drive in a small rental car. There is no scheduled public transport all the way to the site. The best months are April to June and September to October — summer heat on the exposed ridge is severe, and winter snow can make the final approach impassable. There is no significant entrance fee at the main monastery; the real costs are transport and, if you want Bertubani or the far end of the ridge, a guide who knows the current border status. A handful of simple guesthouses and cottages have opened in the nearby village of Udabno for travellers who want to stay overnight and catch the cliffs at sunrise before the day-trip buses arrive from Tbilisi.

Frequently asked

Quick answers before you pack the walking shoes.

Do monks still live at Davit Gareja?

Yes, at Lavra Monastery, the founding core of the complex, a small community of monks lives in cave cells and maintains daily prayer — the tradition St. David Garejeli started in the 6th century, interrupted only by the Soviet-era closure and later restored.

Can you visit without a tour?

You can, with a hired driver or your own 4WD, but there is no public transport to the site and the final approach road is rough, so most independent travellers still arrange a driver rather than attempt it in a standard rental car.

Is Davit Gareja safe to visit given the border dispute?

The main Lavra Monastery is consistently open and safe to visit. Some upper sections, including parts of the ridge toward Udabno and Bertubani, periodically restrict access depending on the state of Georgia-Azerbaijan border demarcation — check locally on the day rather than assuming full access.

How long should I plan for a visit?

Lavra Monastery alone takes under an hour. Add the climb to Udabno and back and plan for half a day; combining Gareja with a Kakheti wine-country stop makes it a full and satisfying day trip from Tbilisi or Sighnaghi.

What should I wear?

Modest dress as at any Georgian monastery — covered shoulders and knees, a head covering for women at Lavra's church — plus sturdy walking shoes and sun protection for the exposed, shadeless climb to Udabno.